MEETING MINUTES

Monday, APRIL 7, 2008

Attendance

Present were: Judge Brown, Judge Keiser, Judge Anderson, Judge Gray, Kevin Way, Richard Callahan, Roan Confer, Jr., Jennifer Heverly, William Knecht, Joy Reynolds McCoy, Joseph Rider, Clifford Rieders, Tammy Taylor, Mike Wiley and Jeffrey Yates.

Discussion included:

Rotation of judicial assignments.  Judge Brown and Judge Butts are handling criminal cases. Judge Gray and Judge Anderson are handling civil cases. Judge Keiser is handling family law cases.

There is a large number of criminal cases. The judges complimented District Attorney Linhardt for attending arraignments and status conferences and being more involved in the day to day handling and management of cases and for making faster decisions on ARD.  The numbers of custody proceedings is increasing. Lyn Hartley has resigned effective May 1. Dana Jacques will be her replacement. Judge Gray is in need of a law clerk. Karen Stapp will fill in part-time until a new law clerk is hired.

The judges would like the family court hearing officers to be permitted to take limited testimony in appropriate cases so that they can draft proposed orders and help in emergency situations.

Equipment for testimony by video is now available in Courtroom No. 1 and Courtroom No. 5. This is being used in connection with testimony from prisoners which can now be taken from the prison and eliminate the need for transporting prisoners to court hearings. It is hoped that the video capability can be also made available for civil trials.

Jury lists for each county are being prepared by the AOPC from the welfare roles, state tax roles, drivers license records and voter registration records. Each county will have the option to use these lists.

Recommendations have been presented by the Orphans Court section of the rules committee to the court for consideration for adoption. Amendments to the local civil rules were adopted by order dated March 25, 2008 to become effective thirty days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Included in the amendments is the raising of the jurisdiction limits for compulsory arbitration to the jurisdictional limits set by Section 7361 of the Judicial Code which is $50,000.

Merit selection for state appellate court judges is dead in the legislature at the present time.

There will be a law day program on May 1 beginning at 4:00 p.m.

The date of the bar picnic has been set for July 23, 2008.

Respectfully submitted,

C. Edward S. Mitchell, Chairman