Court Performance Standards & Court Governance Flashcards

A court received 4,800 new filings and disposed of 5,160 cases in a year. What is its clearance rate?

Answer: 107.5%

Clearance rate = outgoing cases / incoming cases x 100, so 5,160/4,800 = 107.5%.

Which CourTools measure relies primarily on a survey of court users?

Answer: Access and Fairness

Measure 1, Access and Fairness, uses a user survey rating the court on accessibility, fairness and treatment.

A clearance rate persistently below 100% most directly signals what?

Answer: A growing backlog of pending cases

Fewer cases resolved than filed means the pending inventory is growing.

Which Trial Court Performance Standards area addresses whether proceedings are conducted without unnecessary delay?

Answer: Expedition and Timeliness

Expedition and Timeliness covers processing cases promptly and meeting time standards.

Trial Date Certainty (CourTools Measure 5) is measured by what?

Answer: Number of times cases scheduled for trial are heard on the first date set

It tracks how many trial-setting events actually go forward on the first scheduled date, reflecting continuances and settings.

Why do court performance measures typically use percentages or rates rather than raw counts?

Answer: They allow comparison across courts and time regardless of size

Normalized measures permit meaningful comparisons between courts of different sizes and across periods.

A court manager discovers case-age data differ between two systems. Which CourTools-related principle is most at risk?

Answer: Reliability and integrity of data and case files

Consistent, accurate data underpin trustworthy performance measurement and file integrity.