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District court seeks continued funding for eviction mediation, Title IV-E to cover GAL pay and highlights technology upgrades
Summary
District court leaders told the Board of County Commissioners the court endorsed continued funding for eviction mediation, described a Title IV-E-based pay increase for guardians ad litem and outlined technology improvements intended to reduce paper handling and improve treatment-court reporting.
District court leaders told the Board of County Commissioners the court endorsed continued funding for eviction mediation, described a Title IV-E-based pay increase for guardians ad litem and outlined technology improvements intended to reduce paper handling and improve treatment-court reporting.
District Court Administrator Laura Brewer and Chief Judge Draghi said the eviction-mediation program has achieved a 70.7% success rate since September 2023, measured as mediated cases that did not produce eviction judgments on rental records. The court requested $100,000 to continue contract mediators; budget staff said the request was recommended to be funded from reserves.
Brewer described a plan to request reimbursement through Title IV-E for guardians ad litem in child-in-need-of-care cases; she said the court would then provide a 10% pay increase to GALs in a revenue-neutral manner once Title IV-E reimbursement is received. The court expects the first of those reimbursements by the third quarter of the year.
On technology, Brewer described a new drug court information-management system (DIMS) and an upgrade to the courtroom recording system (For the Record) that produces an AI rough draft transcript roughly 10 minutes after hearings. The court also reported migration to the Odyssey statewide case-management system and said it had secured an online jury module and planned a website rebuild to improve public self-help services.
Commissioners raised ADA and access concerns for courthouse parking. Brewer agreed and supported further planning for closer accessible parking and a potential parking garage to reduce long walks for jurors and litigants with mobility needs.
Ending: The court asked the commission to continue the eviction-mediation funding and to monitor the Title IV-E reimbursements; commissioners requested follow-up on eviction support services and coordination with housing departments to reduce return-to-court rates.
