Presiding Judge Heidi Lingren outlines scheduling changes to reduce missed appearances

Presiding Judge Heidi Lingren told the Pennington County Board of Commissioners on June 24 that she has been reorganizing court calendars and hearing logistics to reduce inefficiency and missed appearances.

Since assuming the presiding-judge role in December, Lingren said, she has focused on three themes: calendars, schedules and consolidation. Her office has pulled magistrate dockets together with corresponding circuit matters when possible so one judge can hear related matters rather than requiring parties to attend multiple courtrooms. She also described a plan to institute dedicated traffic-ticket blocks beginning Aug. 1 to make appearances for routine traffic matters faster and more predictable for the public.

"Work smarter and not harder," Lingren said in the meeting, summarizing the motivation behind the changes. She acknowledged that the reforms are still early and that she could not yet provide firm metrics; several commissioners asked for subsequent reports with measurable outcomes, including the impact on failures to appear and attorney hours billed.

Lingren also described efforts to involve probation, diversion and alternative‑court staff earlier in felony dockets so dispositional work occurs sooner. Commissioners praised the approach and asked the judge to return with concrete performance data when available.

Lingren's presentation framed the changes as operational improvements rather than legal or statutory reforms; the county will monitor results before adjusting policy or resource allocations.