Meetings Steering Committee(Folders 1-2)

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The Committee was also charged with the responsibility of assessing security issues, and upon its review found many significant areas of concern. The Committee noted that more than 50 separate security reports were filed by the Marion County Courts with the Oregon Judicial Department in 1993, involving incidents ranging from weapons violations to physical assaults to threats of the lives of Judges, lawyers, litigants and jurors, to ~eported bombs on the premises. While it was noted that the Marion County Sheriff's Office provides as much security as presently possible and responds promptly and efficiently to requests for assistance, it was nevertheless noted that security is woefully inadequate on all Court premises. Beginning with 1994, a Security Assessment was created by the Oregon State Legislature within each County. This fund receives money from assessments in criminal cases and is to be spent to enhance security in courthouses and cou~t facilities in the counties where the revenue is generated. Based upon the revenue to be generated in this dedicated fund, piecemeal security enhancements will be possible in the years ahead. It was noted, however, that only limited security improvements will be funded based upon the size of this account. Also, the primary cost of enhanced security is staffing, due to the nature of the present courthouse. The courthouse contains numerous public entrances and is essentially uncontrollable unless all access is restricted and the restricted access is staffed on a full-time basis by Sheriff's personnel. Facility consultants have also advised the Court of serious structural concerns regarding outside access, lines of fire, and other security related concerns directly associated with physical construction, placement and layout of the courthouse. While the new Security Assessment will provide some funds to help alleviate the more severe areas of concern, it is only a piecemeal approach, which will have limited success in dealing with much broader security issues in the Court's facilities. Revenue and Operatinq Costs: The Judicial Department is a State agency. The funding for the Courts is received from the State's General Fund. As such, it is independent of County operating expense considerations. As a separate and independent branch of State government, funding of the Courts is expected to be reasonably stable. PROJECTED OPERATIONS Agencv Functions: The Oregon Judicial Department has developed projections, both for workload and for methods of service delivery. The full substance of that work is contained in the document entitled "A Vision for the Oregon State Courts in 2020", a copy of which is included in the appendices. Also included are several graphs reflecting caseload projections, as well. Page - 4