The Virginia Supreme Court has created a commission that will make changes to courts statewide. The “Commission on Virginia Courts In the 21st Century: To Benefit All, To Exclude None,” or the “Futures Commission” is making about 170 recommendations about court structure, technology, administration and more. But a court clerks’ association is objecting to specific changes, and three out of five “all-inclusive” public hearings have had only sparse attendance.
The commission is calling for public comment on the courts in letter form, and has held three public hearings so far: July 5 in Roanoke, July 6 in Abingdon and July 10 in Richmond. But Thomas M. Diggs, assistant to the commission chair, says, “We’ve not gotten much response from the public at all.”
This may be because the commission’s preliminary recommendation is 131 pages long. Also, their public comment form asks for feedback on topics like “standards for new judgeships,” “probate,” and “Commissioners in Chancery.” Pretty tough to decipher if you don’t have a J.D.
Diggs’ office has received only about five letters, he says, and only eight people spoke at the hearings—one was an attorney, one was a police officer and six of them were court clerks.
The clerks oppose a recommendation that would eliminate the constitutionally elected circuit clerk office, making it instead an appointed position. Linda Timmons, president of the Virginia Court Clerks Association, says the change is about “control.” The shift means judges would have direct oversight of court administrators.
The commission’s Diggs says the change was partially motivated by some incidents in which clerks weren’t cooperative with judges. Circuit court clerks are the only clerks in the court system who are not appointed.
Timmons says there are other changes embedded in the recommendation that will have a big impact on courts. Among them, streamlining the Court of Appeals process to a single step. If that happens, she says, “the citizens would not be properly served…because they’d have a one-shot deal before the court.”
Overall, Timmons says, “The report is pretty much going to restructure our whole court system as we know it today, if these things follow through.”
The last two public hearings are set for July 17 in Fairfax and July 24 in Virginia Beach. Deadline for feedback by mail is July 31 to Supreme Court of Virginia, 100 N. Ninth St., third floor, Richmond, VA 23219. The commission will make final recommendations to the Supreme Court of Virginia in October.
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