The COOP Planning Guide is now available online. The Guide contains hyperlinks to facilitate navigation within the document and to external sources. Each of the individual sections of the Guide are outlined below, providing overview information along with direct access links from this homepage.
COOP stands for continuity of operations; courts develop a COOP plan to ensure they know what to do if faced with an emergency that threatens continuation of normal operations. Traditionally, a COOP plan is developed and implemented for situations in which the courthouse or court-related facilities are threatened or inaccessible (e.g., as a result of a natural or man-made disaster). A traditional COOP plan establishes effective processes and procedures to quickly deploy pre-designated personnel, equipment, vital records and supporting hardware and software to an alternative site to sustain organizational operations for up to 30 days. It also covers the resumption of normal operations after the emergency has ended.
The steps listed below help a court develop a COOP capability in the event of a manmade or natural disaster. Each step includes an explanation of what needs to be done and links to additional resources, if necessary.
The following Worksheets are provided to help courts gather information critical to preparing their COOP plan. The Worksheets are linked to various steps discussed under Section II COOP Planning Steps.
Worksheets are available for editing by clicking the
Microsoft Word icon above.
This template offers courts a guide for preparing their own continuity of operations (COOP) plan. Each section describes the information that should be included and, in some cases, offers language that can be adapted to fit individual courts. Suggested language is italicized; information to be added by the court is bracketed.
Many of the sections require courts to work through several steps and make decisions before the section can be completed. These sections are linked to information and worksheets provided in Continuity of Court Operations: Steps for COOP Planning to help courts in this process.
