Beginning in November, a task force will begin studying how to improve efficiency in the Fulton County State and Superior Courts, seeking to anticipate the demands on the busy systems through 2025.
The panel of judges, government officials and lawyers will address how civil litigants can receive prompt and fair hearings, how criminal cases can proceed efficiently, whether people acting as their own lawyers have adequate resources and how customer service can be improved. The task force will present its findings, including budget recommendations, to county and state officials in September 2012.
"The world has vastly changed since 1976, when our current system was designed," said Fulton Chief Superior Court Judge Cynthia D. Wright. "It will be vastly different in 2025. The time is now to design a system that protects the public and protects the public purse."
Fulton Commission Chairman John Eaves said the county's court system must be brought into the 21st century. "Working together, we must reduce costs by holistically looking at criminal justice, which includes streamlining business processes and integrating technology to improve the speed, efficiency, and communications of the overall system," he said.
Members of the task force, who will serve without compensation, are:
- Task force chairman William Barwick, former president of the State Bar of Georgia;
- Cicely Barber, State Court Administrator;
- John Eaves, Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners;
- Rev. Darrell Elligan;
- Joan Garner, District 6, Fulton County Board of Commissioners;
- Liz Hausmann, District 3, Fulton County Board of Commissioners;
- Lawyer Harriett Isenberg;
- Business consultant Thomas LaDow;
- Lawyer George Lawson;
- Yolanda Lewis; Superior Court Administrator;
- Chief Judge Patsy Porter, State Court of Fulton County;
- A.J. Robinson, Central Atlanta Progress;
- Cathelene "Tina" Robinson, Clerk of Fulton Superior Court;
- Rita Sheffey, ex officio, President of the Atlanta Bar Association;
- State Sen. Horacena Tate, Senate Special Judiciary Committee;
- State Rep. Wendell Willard, Chairman House Judiciary Committee; and
- Chief Judge Cynthia D. Wright, Fulton Superior Court.
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