04042003 - News Article - Judge still needs to clean up mess - High court uncertain of sanctions if Kouros doesn't return old files

Also See:

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

Judge still needs to clean up mess
High court uncertain of sanctions if Kouros doesn't return old files
NWI Times
Apr 04, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/judge-still-needs-to-clean-up-mess-high-court-uncertain/article_d38c01c1-df9d-524f-ba42-b2d674c21dbd.html
CROWN POINT -- The deadline for Lake Criminal Court Judge Joan Kouros to clean up the paperwork mess in her courtroom has come and gone, and she is still not in complete compliance with the January order of the Indiana Supreme Court.

While Kouros has moved a lot of the paperwork that was clogging the system in her room, she still has not come close to what the court ordered on Jan. 17: that she return all files to the county clerk within 48 hours and not keep out more than 80 files at one time.

But a check Wednesday by The Times showed more than twice that many files remain checked out this week, well past the March 6 deadline set by the Indiana Supreme Court. A letter has been sent from the county clerk to the state's high court, showing as of March 21 Kouros still had 172 files checked out to her courtroom.

Of those, 11 were from 2003, 76 from 2002, 37 from 2001, 27 from 2000, six from 1999, three from 1998, two from 1997, four from 1996, one each from 1991 through 1995 and one case out from 1985.

Although the Supreme Court's order was strongly worded and set firm guidelines, the high court did not include sanctions if the order is not complied with beyond a vague reference to the possibility of "further action."

At issue are the stacks of case files checked out to Kouros from the clerk's office but never returned, leaving some inmates in limbo and some lawyers without pay for services rendered.

The order, crafted by Chief Justice Randall Shepard, said in essence that Lake County was not properly addressing the situation and that he was not reluctant to have the Supreme Court assume the oversight.

Shepard said Thursday he continues to be hopeful the problem will be resolved positively.

"It is not our object to cause trouble for any individual," he said. "There have been some t's that have to be crossed and some i's that have to be dotted, and more promptly than they have been."

If that is not done, he said, "We know what our alternatives are, but we have not made any decisions about any of them because we expect this to be resolved favorably."

Privately, some local attorneys and court officials say they see no reason why Kouros will pay any more attention to the order of the Supreme Court than she did the attempts by the local judges to get the mess cleaned up.

But Supreme Court spokesman David Remondini said the high court does not plan to sweep the matter under the rug. "If anybody thinks we are going to ignore this, we have already invested a lot of time in this and we plan to stay on top of it," he said.

He admitted the letter from the Lake County clerk's office detailing the failure of Kouros to return the files in a timely matter has troubled the justices.

"In theory, at least, she (Kouros) was supposed to have taken care of these things," he said. "The letter from the clerk will prompt a closer look and sooner than we had originally anticipated."

Shepard, in the January order, said in an order one year earlier it had told Lake County there was a mess, that Lake County had assured the court it was cleaning it up and it had not.

The January 2002 order from Shepard to Kouros to clean the court left it up to the local judges to implement the cleanup plan. The January 2003 order did not.

Kouros did follow the high court's orders in ridding her court of the old cases, court employees said, but while she was doing that she allowed the current caseload to back up.

Kouros has repeatedly said there is no problem, but if the Supreme Court wants her court run in a certain manner she will comply. She has also cited a run-in with Clerk Anna Anton as a reason for hostility she said she feels from Anton.

For her part, Anton denies any hostility and denies her motives are political, as Kouros has alleged. Anton said she does not plan to seek any further office after she leaves the clerk's post in December.