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The National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue · Williamsburg, Virginia  23185

Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525 or lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us 

Arizona Court Administrator Receives ICM's Director's Award of Merit

Williamsburg, VA (June 1, 2004) – Gary L. Krcmarik, court administrator for Coconino County Superior Court, is the 2004 recipient of the Institute for Court Management’s Director’s Award of Merit, presented annually to a graduating fellow of ICM’s prestigious Court Executive Development Program (CEDP). Krcmarik and 11 other court professionals from around the country appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court May 14 as part of graduation ceremonies. The Institute for Court Management is the educational arm of the National Center for State Courts.

The Director’s Award of Merit is presented to the CEDP graduate who wrote the best research paper. Krcmarik’s paper was titled “Effective Use of Jury Management System in Coconino County Superior Court.” 

CEDP is the only program of its kind in the United States and was established more than 30 years ago, in part, by U.S. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in his call for improving the management of state court administration. The intensive educational program consists of four phases, and those who successfully complete all four phases become fellows of ICM, which better prepares them for management and leadership positions in the courts. Since the first class of CEDP graduates in 1970, more than 1,000 court professionals from 48 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and 12 foreign countries have become fellows.

The curriculum phases include:

• Phase I requires participants to take six in-depth courses that cover topics of court performance standards, research methods, caseflow and fiscal management, human resources, and technology management.
• Phase II is a three-week full-time course at the National Center’s headquarters in Williamsburg, Va. in which participants take a range of classes to sharpen their conceptual and interpersonal skills and learn leadership and management theory as it applies to court management.
• Phase III requires participants to prepare a master’s-level research paper that relates to evaluating and implementing a key court activity in their home jurisdiction.
• In Phase IV participants present their research projects and evaluate their classmates’ reports.

The National Center for State Courts is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. The National Center, founded in 1971 with the encouragement of Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, provides leadership, research, technology, education, and training to the state courts. The National Center also is taking the lead on several key issues facing the justice system. For example, it has established a major civil justice reform initiative, which is a multi-year project that examines the most efficient practices in civil case management and how complex litigation procedures can be improved through the use of technology. Other national initiatives being driven by the National Center include improving public trust and confidence in the courts, self representation, and the judicial selection process.

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