The King County Superior Court is developing a master plan for delivery of services to children and family (in other words, for adjudicating family law and civil and criminal juvenile cases). The master plan is driven by the court's desire to build a new courthouse.
Currently, the court handles such cases from the King County Courthouse in Seattle, the Regional Justice Center in Kent and Juvenile Court on Capitol Hill in Seattle. The Master Plan is being developed with input from several groups and consultants. Carolyn Davis represents the KCBA on a working group that is developing the operational master plan.
A facilities master plan also is in the works. The goal is to have both plans in place by October.
Although input from the bar has been considered, the views of the private family law bar have not been given great weight. The rationale of the working group is that a large percentage of family law cases are brought pro se and, consequently, the importance of the private family law bar is diminished. However, the working group is mindful that the private family law bar in the south end likes the RJC.
The Board was asked to take positions on components of the operational master plan. The first component concerns the number of courthouse facilities that would handle juvenile, dependency and family law cases. Out of concern that the county is too large to efficiently deliver services at a single countywide courthouse and that establishing three courthouses would be too expensive, the Board voted to support unified family courts in two courthouses, in unspecified locations, but accessible with public transportation.
The Board also adopted a position in favor of a "one judge, one family" principle for civil cases; in other words, for those juvenile-dependency cases that also have a family law component, the same judge should be assigned. The Board did not believe that principle needed to extend to criminal juvenile cases.
There also is a debate as to whether assessment or treatment services should be located in the courthouse(s) where dependency, juvenile and family law cases are heard. Such services could include drug testing, paternity testing and assessments, as well as domestic violence and drug/alcohol treatment.
Due to logistical concerns for both the providers (who would be required to relocate to the courthouse) and the public (who would have to come to the courthouse for treatment), the Board did not believe that mandating on-site treatment services would be appropriate. Instead, the Board voted to support limited services on site, such as drug and paternity testing and mental health assessments for juvenile detainees. The Board also sought the development of a scheduling system for neighborhood treatment providers, which would allow clients to schedule appointments while at the courthouse.
Another item under consideration is the possible construction of a new juvenile detention facility. The existing detention facility at the RJC was not designed to meet the requirements for juvenile detention (it cannot segregate juveniles from older offenders), and the juvenile detention facility at 12th and Alder in Seattle is not considered optimal. Because construction of a juvenile detention facility would be very expensive, there is no strong movement to build a second juvenile facility. The Board voted to support the establishment of a satellite juvenile detention facility that would allow the efficient transportation of juveniles to more than one courthouse and augment a single main detention facility.
Pattern Interrogatories
Brian Esler, chair of the Judiciary and Courts Committee, reported that the committee approved an initial set of pattern interrogatories for use in motor vehicle accident cases. (Please see Page 15.) He asked that the pattern interrogatories be posted for comment on the KCBA Web site for 30 days. The committee will review the comments and revise the draft pattern interrogatories accordingly.
The committee attempted to limit the use of subparts to interrogatories, but in some instances subparts made the interrogatories clearer. Trustee Gary Strauss suggested that the committee address when subparts should and should not be considered separate interrogatories, because their treatment may affect how litigants and the court will treat them in non-pattern interrogatories.
It is hoped that the use of pattern interrogatories will reduce party costs and increase access to justice.
ABA Resolution on Civil Justice
An ABA presidential task force sought support from the KCBA (and other local bar associations) for a resolution to the ABA House of Delegates, under which the ABA would urge state, territorial and federal jurisdictions to provide counsel as a matter of right, at public expense, to low-income persons in adversarial proceedings where basic human needs (such as shelter, sustenance, safety, health or child custody) are at stake. The request also was supported by the Northwest Justice Project. The Board voted to endorse the resolution.
This article discusses selected issues that were before the Board of Trustees at its May 23 and June 7 meetings. Complete minutes of these and other board meetings are available from the KCBA office. n
J. Mark Weiss is the outgoing KCBA secretary/trustee. Weiss practices family law in Seattle. He can be reached at 206-622-6707.
