Court consolidation
One of the actions a court administrator needs to takes is a conducting a review of all services that are offered by the courts to check that there is no duplication of services. Despite the fact that such an action may result in loss of jobs, it will lead to saving a lot of taxpayers’ money by eliminating jobs that are not necessary for the court system. As such, aspects of jobs that need to be evaluated are the number of receptionists available for use in the courts. The number can be reduced as receptionist workload does not require a lot of personnel to handle different tasks in the courts. Additionally, having part-time judges increases the expenses incurred hence there may need to eliminate their services and only have full-time judges working the court.
The court administrator may also need to take a look at the software that is used in the court system. Having the state, magistrate and superior court running on the same software can be a move that can result in cost savings. That implies that all the courts obtain services from a single provider hence the difference in costs are streamlined. Furthermore, using an IT system that reduces the use of papers in the court contributes to cost savings. The IT system can be effective for Municipal Court and Traffic court.
When there are cases that touch on common issues of law, consolidation the cases to be heard in a single hearing reduces unnecessary costs for the court and may also save time and expedite the number of cases heard in a single day. Furthermore, merging courts in the State of Georgia can cut costs related to staff that is able to serve wider communities. According to Aikman (2007), the consolidation process reduces the need for senior and middle managers, which provides economies of scale for the court system. For instance, judges being appointed by governors to serve in the shared courts eliminate the need for local governing bodies as the judges serve under the governor.
Reference
Aikman, A. B. (2007). Art and practice of court administration. Boca Raton: Auerbach Publications.
