When a court is short on space, alternative dispute resolution (often called ADR) can be a viable option for addressing space constraints. In this post, I will discuss a particularly effective example where ADR has been successfully used to avoid the need for expansion of courtroom space while...

Courtroom sharing is a controversial issue considered by courts all over the country. Most of the courts I work with have one courtroom per judge. However, in an effort to save space and associated costs, the possibility of courtroom sharing frequently arises during courtroom planning.

For many years, I assessed courthouses, and additional file storage has been a common need for court and related components. The introduction of electronic filing and imaging has now reduced storage in many courts, and I find more courts with reduced filing needs and even vacant file rooms. This...

Earlier this year, I toured a Midwest courthouse with a deputy from the courthouse law enforcement staff as the initial part of a needs assessment. We began by examining the secure route that deputies use to accompany prisoners from the courthouse cellblock to the courtrooms. During this part of...

When conducting a courthouse planning needs assessment, it is important to evaluate the current capacity and condition of the existing courthouse and forecast future demand. As mentioned in our last post, the demand includes the workload and staffing needs of the court and related components and...