Friend of the Court report: office exceeds statewide case-start and order-establishment benchmarks; staff retirements expected to trigger internal bids

A Friend of the Court staff member reported to the Jackson County Board of Commissioners’ committee that the office is exceeding statewide performance metrics for new case processing, order establishment and service of process.

The staff member said the statewide metric for the new-case processing benchmark is 75 percent, and described the office’s focus on locating parties, meeting with clients promptly at case start, completing DNA testing and moving orders through the court system. The staff member said Jackson County is "by far exceeding all of those metrics," and that the state overall is performing well on the measures.

The report also reviewed the bench warrant unit. The staff member said the county jail was open to FOC (front-of-court) warrants in April 2024, but that the jail has been intermittently closed to lodging FOC warrants throughout the year and — since May 9 of the current year — the office has not been able to lodge FOC warrants in the county jail. As a result, warrant officers have shifted more work into the community to collect payments and engage clients reluctant to come to the office.

The staff member told the committee that two long‑time employees, Rhonda Johncock and Tracy Johnson, will retire at year end after more than 25 years with the office. The retirements are expected to create a cascade of internal bids and reassignment — the staff member estimated roughly 15 position changes could follow the two vacancies. The staff member said they may request restructuring of positions to align staffing with workload as retirements and bids proceed.

The committee voted unanimously to receive the report.

Ending: The Friend of the Court staff member invited questions; none were raised beyond the discussion recorded. Commissioners moved to receive the semiannual report and the motion passed unanimously.