Third Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Jack Peace accepted the Daniel J. O’Toole Award recently on behalf of the Third Judicial Circuit for efficient management and processing of cases during fiscal year 2006. This is the third time the Third Circuit, which includes Grundy, Mercer, Harrison and Putnam counties, has won the award.
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The O’Toole awards were presented Sept. 27, during the general business meeting of the Judicial Conference of Missouri, the organization of all state judges. The awards were presented by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge John O’Malley, who serves as chairman of the Circuit Courts Budget Committee, on behalf of Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith, who also attending the award presentation.
“Daniel O’Toole left as his legacy his commitment to an efficient judiciary,” Chief Justice Stith said. “This commitment is crucial – timely case processing is fundamental to an effective judicial system – and to justice itself. The staff and judges in these circuits should be commended for their commitment to providing timely justice to the public.”
The O’Toole Award, named for the late judge’s service as first chair of the time standards monitoring committee, recognizes the success of the circuits in handling cases in a timely manner. To qualify, a circuit must achieve at least five of the 10 case processing time standards and must not be more than 5 percent from achieving the remaining standards.
The case processing time standards, which become effective in 1997, serves as guidelines for the time various kinds of cases should take to handle. For example, half of civil cases should he disposed within 12 months, and 90 percent of civil cases should be disposed within 18 months. The guidelines recognize that some cases are more complex and require more time. They are designed as tools, therefore to achieve the overall goals of efficiency, productivity and quality of justice rather than as absolute requirements.