House bill NO. 709

INTRODUCED BY J. Gillette

By Request of the ****

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT CREATING A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DISTRICT COURT AND JUDGE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR DISPLAY; REQUIRING CERTAIN EXISTING DATA TO BE INCLUDED IN THE DISPLAY; REQUIRING THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR AND DISTRICT COURT COUNCIL TO CREATE THE DISPLAY; PROVIDING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

Section 1. District court and judge key performance indicators display. (1) There is a district court and judge key performance indicator display to allow the public to view reports or other static documents related to court and judge performance. At a minimum, the display must be updated:

(a)        quarterly for:

(i)         statewide case processing measures; and

(ii)         case processing measures, including on-time case processing statistics, case clearance rates, and age of active cases statistics; and

(b)        annually for:

(i)         case filings by major case categories;

(ii)         new case filings;

(iii)        workload filings by judicial district;

(iv)        rates at which each district court judge's decisions are overturned wholly or in part on appeal.

(2)        The data described in subsection (1)(a)(ii) must be published for each judge. The court administrator shall publish a comprehensive yearend report.

(3)        In addition to the measures listed in subsection (1), the district court council shall:

(a)        inventory all of the current measures used by the judicial branch to evaluate district court workload and efficiency;

(b)        consider research on any additional objective quality indicators of judicial performance; and

(c)        review the data on the dashboard at least annually for the purposes of quality improvement and management of the district courts, judges, and standing masters.

(4)        When resources allow, the court administrator is encouraged to transition any display of a static report to an interactive dashboard display.

Section 2. Transition -- reports. (1) By June 30, 2025, the court administrator and the district court council shall make the display available publicly. The activities required by [section 1] and this section must be completed using existing resources.

(2)        The court administrator shall report to the law and justice interim committee and the judicial branch, law enforcement, and justice budget committee established in 5-12-501 on the progress of the display created in [this act] before the end of December 2023 and again before September 15, 2024.

Section 3. Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 3, chapter 1, part 7, and the provisions of Title 3, chapter 1, part 7, apply to [section 1].

Section 4. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.