09302000 - News Article - Lawyers recommend ouster of Kouros Attorneys who have practiced before the judge vote overwhelmingly against her retention in bar association survey

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09242017 - News Article Links - Disparity of justice: Comparison of Magistrate James Johnson's and Judge Joan Kouros' judicial investigations - Backlog of court cases

Lawyers recommend ouster of Kouros
Attorneys who have practiced before the judge vote overwhelmingly against her retention in bar association survey
NWI Times
September 30, 2000
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/lawyers-recommend-ouster-of-kouros/article_92acbfa7-eaa2-5569-82ac-95d5fb149674.html
Although the county bar association has been conducting similar polls for years, the survey it released Friday is the first to make a recommendation on whether a judge should stay on the bench.

Kouros' rating in each of 17 categories listed in the poll was less than qualified, and she received 45 negative votes to only 24 positive votes.

A total of 73 lawyers voted on Kouros, and the difference is that some of the attorneys gave Kouros a zero on a scale of one to five and were therefore not counted, according to a bar association source.

Kouros, who was appointed in December 1996 by then-Gov. Evan Bayh, downplayed the results of the survey.

"There are more than 1,200 lawyers in Lake County and only a small percent of them even responded to this (poll)," she said. "I believe there are a group of attorneys who have a problem with me for issues outside my being a judge of the criminal court."

She did not elaborate on those issues, but said, "The results are skewed and all I can tell you is that I'm doing everything I can to be fair to both sides. My job is not to please lawyers but to serve the public, and I don't know what else I can do."

The poll rated the four criminal division judges, the five civil division judges and the circuit court judge, although it only made recommendations on the five who were up for retention. One of those, James Clement of the criminal division, has announced he will not run for retention.

Clement and fellow criminal division judge Richard Maroc scored well, with Maroc getting 71 "yes" votes and only three "no" tallies and Clement receiving 61 "yes" and 13 "no" votes.

Kouros rated lowest in categories pertaining to the operation of her office and higher in her judicial demeanor.

She was at rock-bottom in the category of being efficient in managing the court calendar and caseload. That was no surprise, even to her staunchest supporters.

Stacks of case folders, each representing one criminal case pending before her, litter her desk, her chambers and the small anteroom that once housed her bailiffs but now is home to a mountain of green-jacketed folders.

While the other judges have only the folders with that day's cases and those for the next day, Kouros has months of folders throughout her office.

"I've noticed that," said a lawyer who supports her and finds fault with the poll. "She probably takes on too much. She examines every file diligently. If there is a wrong Social Security number, she makes them amend the whole thing. She is a stickler for accuracy and perhaps that causes people to get annoyed with her demeanor.

"I find it hard to believe there was fairness in these responses."

But the huge stacks can cause individual defendants to get lost in the shuffle, and her critics contend scores of people who were supposed to be released from jail or transferred out are left inside for days and weeks until their mess can be sorted out.

Kouros admitted sometimes defendants do get misplaced, but said, "In a case where it is a transfer to the DOC (Department of Correction) what difference does it make whether they're here or at the DOC? And as far as people who should be released, I would say under oath that in the past two years, no one has stayed in jail a day more than they should have."

Although only 73 lawyers voted on Kouros, Lake County Bar Association President Daniel Vinovich defended the poll, saying lawyers were asked only to vote on judges in front of whom they have practiced within the past three years. Only a fraction, perhaps 10 percent, of Lake County's lawyers practice criminal law on a regular basis.

Kouros rated lowest on caseload management, delegation of work and staff and resource management, but rated higher in the area of fairness. Her top scores, rated above qualified, were in the areas of rulings made without regard to race, gender, religion or ethnicity and exercising control over her court.

"I expect a lot of lawyers," she said. "Some of the things I say sound different than they would coming from an older male judge. But I can't please every lawyer."

The two other lawyers up for retention who received recommendations were civil division judges Jeffery Dywan, who got 142 "yes" votes and 13 "no" votes and James Richards who got 125 "yes" votes and 27 "no" votes.

There had been rumblings that Richards would face opposition from lawyers who believed he should retire. Richards, 75, has been on the bench since 1962 and is Indiana's longest-serving currently sitting judge. Opposition did not materialize, however, as Richards scored above qualified in each of the 17 categories.

01222000 - News Article - County awaits go-ahead for family court

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09242007 - Terror in Porter County Divorce Court - 1990's - Magistrate James Johnson and Judge Thomas Webber at the helm

County awaits go-ahead for family court
NWI Times
Jan 22, 2000
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/county-awaits-go-ahead-for-family-court/article_2898c0cb-7aa6-5854-9469-3b9abf39e33b.html
VALPARAISO -- Porter County has been selected as one of six counties whose funding application for a family court pilot project will be reviewed by the Indiana Supreme Court.

The recommendation could be sent to the high court as early as Monday.

The court is expected to act quickly, said Appellate Court Judge Margret Robb, head of the special task force appointed by the high court to review applications.

If successful, Porter County could see the beginnings of a family court structure in as little as 14 days after acceptance by the high court.

The family court movement is a sweeping change in philosophy in which court cases involving various members of a single family are treated holistically by one judge rather than separately by judges without knowledge of all that is going on with that family.

Supporters say the court needs a coherent picture of the whole family to make decisions in each individual's best interest. Critics argue that approach taints the individual's right to a fair hearing.

In addition to Porter County, the special task force will be recommending proposals from Monroe, Johnson, Cass, Putnam and Posey counties. Three of those six counties will be chosen for the pilot project.

Porter, with a population of 145,000, is the largest of the contenders, followed by Monroe at 115,000 and Johnson at 110,000. Cass, Putnam and Posey have populations ranging from 26,000 to 38,000.

Robb said while the task force did not focus on size, it is a factor.

"Size is an issue," Robb said. "Theoretically, counties could have exactly the same project (in mind), and not be as effective in terms of resources."

The final victors will have to make do with an estimated $280,000 over two years between them.

The awarding of the grants, however, is far more flexible than originally proposed two years ago through a legislative initiative. At that time, the plan was to make like awards to a large, mid-size and small county. The legislative effort failed, but the court subsequently was successful in securing additional funds for its own budget in order to award the grants.

This time around, the court is expected to allocate the funds as needed, which means one county may get as much as two-thirds of the pie with the others sharing the rest. "We've asked each county to give us their financial needs, wish list and bottom line," Robb said.

In Porter County, the wish list would be augmented by funds from the budget of Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper as well as a contribution by Porter-Starke Services in the form of the salary paid to the project's local coordinator.

The proposal, authored by Harper, requests $61,100 annually from the state court with her court matching $31,600. In addition, Harper has requested supplementary funding of $18,000 from the Court Improvement Project, the state component of a national undertaking to improve family law adjudication.

The 22-page proposal is largely grounded in an expansion of community programs that have been under way for some years: the Chronic Repeat Offender Program in which juvenile court staff work closely with the schools, and the Juvenile Summit Team in which a coalition of the judiciary, social service agencies and schools work together to improve communication among agencies and collaborate on case handling. Pivotal to any family court structure is a computerized case management system, which is near completion.

"I hope to bring the same approach as the Juvenile Summit Team to the table," Harper said in discussing the focus of the family court project.

In her work over the past two years in formulating the proposal, Harper said she has found the two "absolute commonalties" in family troubles -- the combination of domestic violence and substance abuse. Her proposal includes bringing on board the assistance of extended family and mediation to aid such families.

"I hope the people in Indianapolis find that innovative," she said.

Harper's proposal indicates she has spent time bringing the community on board as well.

"We've got a terrific circuit court judge," said Lee Grogg, head of Porter-Starke Services. "We've been working on the Summit for the better part of three years, and we're hearing the cases encompass a broad spectrum of problems."

"One of the primary concerns among lawyers is how to best use their time," said Valparaiso attorney David Chidester, past president of the Porter County Bar Association and Harper's husband.

Chidester was president of the group when Harper presented her family court plan to the bar, which is said to be supportive of the initiative.

"If (a lawyer) can handle a CHINS (Child in Need of Services) case, a dissolution matter or an alcohol-related case all in the same place on the same day and help his practice and his client, I think that's why the lawyers are in favor of it," he said. "We see the same family in a myriad of courts."

Bar member Joanne Eldred agreed, citing a case in which custody issues involving two children in the same family were being heard in two different courts. "It doesn't make sense...," she said. "I think it's very good and very helpful for one judge to follow a family and how (one set) of issues can affect other issues."

While Harper, as juvenile court judge, has led the local movement toward adopting a family court model, the project is supported by her fellow judges.

"We're all in favor of it," Porter Superior Court Judge Thomas Webber said.

"The state has the money and they need to start spending it before they lose it. Things are pretty much in place to start the project."

Newly named Appellate Court Judge Nancy Vaidik said the new model allows the left hand to talk to the right. "That's not often the case with courts anywhere, and Judge Harper's plan does just that. It allows the free-flowing of information between agencies to serve the people of Porter County and particularly the families of Porter County."