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Date set for courtroom cleanup
Kouros told to fix paperwork backlog or accept help
Feb 08, 2001
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/date-set-for-courtroom-cleanup/article_bd35e0f8-5e66-5ea7-845c-ef5ea1ee1896.html
CROWN POINT -- It is becoming increasingly likely the Indiana Supreme Court will take a hand in straightening out the paperwork mess in the courtroom of Lake Criminal Court Judge Joan Kouros.
In January, the high court ordered the judges of the Lake Superior Court's criminal division to come up with a plan by which the 300-plus case logjam in Kouros' court be resolved. Senior Judge Richard Maroc was given until Feb. 5 to submit the plan to the Supreme Court.
Last week, Kouros agreed to allow the criminal division's two magistrates to assume some of her in-court duties in addition to their own, while Kouros was to tackle the mounds of troublesome paperwork. But as of Wednesday neither of the magistrates had been allowed by Kouros to sit.
To move things along, a second stipulation was added, that the backlog be cleared up by Feb. 20. With more than 300 cases that have to be updated, more than one court employee has said the deadline probably will not be met.
Each of the 300-plus files must be updated to reflect all entries the judge made, and some of the files go back more than a year. To do many of the updates, the judge must listen to tape recordings of the proceedings and then make the entries by hand; on others, she has affixed yellow Post-It notes with the entries.
The backlog, which many attorneys have complained about for months, came to the attention of the Indiana Supreme Court directly by way of a letter from the Lake County Sheriff's Department Correctional Officers Merit Board, which represents the guards of the Lake County Jail.
Because much of the backlog means orders for transfer from the jail to the Indiana Department of Correction do not go through, the merit board complained the inactivity by the judge has resulted in a dangerous situation for the guards because of overcrowding and angry attitudes among prisoners.
Most prisoners would rather be housed in the Department of Correction than the jail for several reasons, among them the access to education and better living conditions.
Kouros has said no one is in the jail who does not belong behind bars, but admitted that a number of the prisoners now in the jail are overdue for transfer to the DOC. She said she is making substantial headway in cutting the backlog and has been working nights and weekends to try to remedy the situation.
In its order, the Supreme Court said if timely and satisfactory action is not taken, it will impose on Kouros an attorney from its own staff or a staff of its choosing to assist her and perhaps to guide her.
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