MEETING MINUTES

Monday, August 2, 2010

Attendance

Present were: Judge Butts, Judge Gray, Judge Lovecchio, Judge McCoy, Richard Callahan, Michael Collins, Robert Cronin, Jennifer Heverly, John Mott, Joseph Rider, Clifford Rieders, David Wilk.

Old Business

Court Website.  The implementation of a Court website remains a work in progress. The anticipated completion date is December 31, 2010.

Register and Recorder Forms.  The anticipated revisions to Register and Recorder’s office forms to delete personal identification information remains a work in progress.

Local Rule 205.2.  The Rules Committee has submitted to the Court for its consideration a proposed amendment which would delete the portion of Local Rule 205.2 pertaining to lettering on both sides of the paper. This is to eliminate the inconsistency between the Local Rule and the State Rule 204.1(5) which provides that lettering shall be on one side of a page.

Numbers of Copies.  The Rules Committee has submitted to the Court the proposed amendment to the local rules pertaining to numbers of copies of filings needed by the Court and the Prothonotary.

Mortgage Foreclosures.  Procedures are in place to make property owners aware of federal programs which provide relief to qualifying property owners in mortgage foreclosures.

Attendance of Jurors.  The Court will adopt a system of sanctions for non-appearance of jurors.

Underage Drinking Alternative Disposition.  Arresting police officers are no longer permitted to veto availability of the underage drinking alternative disposition program to the otherwise qualified individuals. The court makes the final determination.

Prior Record Scores.  The Jnet (clean sheet) is now available to defense attorneys through the District Attorney’s office.

Cell Phone Policy.  The prohibition of cell phones on the 2nd floor of the courthouse has been lifted. The Court will consider a policy pertaining to cell phones in courtrooms.

New Business

Jury Questionnaires - Race.  The jury questionnaire for use in civil cases will be changed to add a voluntary question on race. The questionnaire will say that the question is for purposes of eliminating discrimination in jury selection and that the answering of the question is voluntary.

Criminal Rules.  The local criminal rules are being reviewed by Judge Lovecchio.

Court Scheduling.  The Court Administrator must be notified of any withdrawal of motions, preliminary objections or other matters scheduled for argument. Continuance forms must go through court scheduling rather than the judge’s office. This is to eliminate a problem of the Court not becoming aware of the withdrawals resulting in wasted Court time.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be November 1, 2010 at noon at the Ross Club.

Respectfully submitted,

C. Edward S. Mitchell, Chairman