This measure reviews and assesses the court’s level of compliance with established reporting schedules for court activity. Reports required by the judicial system (e.g., statistical reports to the State administrative office of the courts) and by other government agencies (e.g., vital statistics or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports) are included. The data collection and evaluation methods will provide the court with information about the timeliness of overall reporting as well of specific reports.

Planning/Preparation. First, court staff must gather specific information on reports the court is required to file. This information can be obtained through discussions with the court manager or the person directly responsible for each report. Form 2.2.4a, Generic List of Court Activity Reporting, is a guide to help organize these discussions and includes questions regarding reporting schedules; the statute, order, directive or policy establishing each schedule; the name of the individual responsible for filing each report; the location of court copies of the reports; and an indication of whether requests for additional or corrected information were made after the reports were filed. Additionally, it should be determined whether regular financial or compliance audits are conducted on court records and, if so, what kinds of records are included.

The first time an assessment is conducted in a State, parallel discussions should be held with the State administrative office of the courts. Information sought from the State administrative office of the courts will include the reports required of trial courts and their relevant reporting schedules and authority for reporting. Information from both local and State sources will help ensure complete coverage of reporting requirements. Compile a single list of reporting requirements from the court and State administrative office of the courts lists, including information on required audits. If discrepancies appear, contact the appropriate individuals to resolve discrepancies.

Second, court staff must locate the data to be collected. Select for data collection and evaluation at least two reports from each of the reporting categories found in the guide (Form 2.2.4a). For each report selected that appears on the audit list, examine the most recent audit reports to ascertain whether that report can provide some or all of the data required for this measure (see Form 2.2.4b, Compliance With Reporting Schedules, for required information). For those not included on the audit reports, or those for which insufficient information is provided, contact the individual responsible for filing the reports. The agency that receives the report(s) should also be contacted to determine whether staff at that agency perceive problems in timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of the reports filed by the court. Depending on the type of report, contact the State administrative office of the courts, EEOC, an employees’ labor union, or the State or county comptroller.

The number/period of reports in the evaluation sample will depend on the nature of the reports and the frequency with which they are filed. For monthly reports, review a 1-year period; for weekly reports, review a 3- to 6-month period or, alternatively, the same month over a 5-year period (e.g., all April reports for the past 5 years). For some personnel matters such as performance evaluations, reporting dates may be keyed to employment anniversary dates. In such cases, draw a sample that includes 50 evaluations or 20 percent of all evaluations submitted during the prior calendar year, whichever is larger.

Data Collection. Record the required reporting date and the actual reporting date of each report in the sample. (See Form 2.2.4b.) Was the report filed on time? Was it late? If so, by how many days?

Examine all report forms to see if all requested information was provided. For reports reflecting individual evaluations (e.g., personnel evaluations), were meaningful responses provided? Are forms individualized in a way that provides useful information for the record and to the employee? If there is a pattern of incompleteness or lack of uniform responses for all employees, the pattern should be recorded in the comments section of the data collection form.

Data Analysis and Report Preparation. For each type of report reviewed, compute the percentage of reports that are filed on time by dividing the total number of reports filed on time by the total number of reports reviewed. The closer this figure is to 100 percent, the more timely is the court’s performance. The average number of days late for each type of report reviewed can be estimated by dividing the total number of days late by the total number of late reports. Form 2.2.4b illustrates these calculations.

If a pattern of late reporting emerges on any of the data collection forms, contact the individual responsible for filing the report to determine the type of information that needed clarification and/or the reason(s) for late filing. Record both general reasons (e.g., the court’s system does not capture that information; every month the court must wait for xyz information from xxx office to prepare the report) and specific explanations (e.g., "a new staff member was preparing reports at that time" or "in May, I became ill and was not able to prepare the report until the following week") on the comments section of the data collection form.