The
courtesy and responsiveness of court personnel is measured through a survey
of regular court users, including court employees, attorneys, probation
officers, and jurors.
Planning/Preparation.
Measure 1.2.3, Perceptions of Courthouse
Security, and Measure 1.2.6, Evaluation of
Accessibility and Convenience by Court Users, also involve surveying regular
users of the court. If these measures are also being conducted, the
coordinators for the measures may find it efficient to combine the three
measures into a single survey instrument.
Adapt
the survey form, as necessary, to local conditions and for each of the four
groups receiving the survey. For example, the questionnaire administered to
court employees should be modified to ask for employees’ perceptions of
the public’s treatment by judges and court staff. Also, as noted in
surveys for other measures (e.g., Measures 1.2.3 and 1.2.6), smaller
jurisdictions conducting this measure may want to eliminate some or all of
the demographic questions (the background section) included on the survey.
Responses to demographic questions could reveal the identity of individual
respondents in some categories (e.g., attorneys) if the number of
respondents is small. Thus, small courts need to weigh the benefits of
including this information to allow for more detailed analysis against the
possibility of a lowered response rate.
Data
Collection. The
questionnaire is administered following the same procedures described in the
data collection section of Measure 1.2.3.
Data
Analysis and Report Preparation.
The percentage of each response for each question is calculated. The greater
the percentage of respondents rating the court a "1" or
"2" on questions 1 through 12 (courtesy of staff) and questions 14
and 16 (respectfulness of judges), the better the court is performing on
this measure.
The
percentages can also be compared across groups. For example, do jurors
(compared to other groups) rate court personnel as more courteous? If so,
court officials should talk with staff to determine if any of the other
groups present particular problems that need to be addressed.
Once
a court has conducted this measure, court officials should establish
benchmarks for "poor," "adequate," and "good"
ratings. For example, a "good" rating might mean that at least 98
percent of the respondents agree that they were treated politely, and an
"adequate" rating might mean that at least 75 percent of the
respondents agree that they were treated politely. The benchmarks may differ
for each item and group.
