Opinion
No. 20020048
Decided April 8, 2002
Petition to Change Resident Chambers from Watford City to Minot.
PETITION GRANTED.
[¶ 1] On February 19, 2002, the Honorable Robert W. Holte, Presiding Judge of the Northwest Judicial District, filed a Petition under N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.1 requesting this Court to relocate the chambers of District Judgeship No. 8 of the Northwest Judicial District from Watford City to Minot.
[¶ 2] Under § 27-05-08, N.D.C.C., this Court has the authority to determine the location of the chambers of the state's district judges. Since November 2001, the Court has had two occasions to review the judicial service needs, population and caseload trends, and other criteria identified in N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.1, § 4, regarding the Northwest Judicial District. See Judicial Vacancy in the Northwest Judicial District, 2002 ND 12, 638 N.W.2d 540;Judicial Vacancy in the Northwest Judicial District, 2001 ND 199, 637 N.W.2d 3. We take judicial notice of the information contained in those files.
[¶ 3] After notice, a hearing concerning the possible transfer of Judgeship No. 8 was held in the Ralph J. Erickstad Courtroom of the Supreme Court on March 27, 2002. This order is based upon a consideration of all information received and reviewed by this Court, the criteria identified in N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.1, § 4, and the need for continued effective judicial services in the Northwest Judicial District.
[¶ 4] Of the criteria identified in N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. R. 7.1, § 4, factors a., i., j., and l. indicate the chambers of Judgeship No. 8 should be relocated.
a. Annual district court combined civil, criminal and formal juvenile caseload for the most recent three-year period and any discernible caseload trends or patterns.
[¶ 5] Our weighted caseload study allocates the amount of judicial resources (including judges and judicial referees) needed to handle cases after weighting each type of case by the amount of time required to process an average case of that type. The study also allocates time not available for handling cases but which is required from a judge, such as travel time and time for the presiding judge to handle administrative matters. The resulting computation is the minimum judicial resources (expressed as a "judicial FTE", which includes both judges and judicial referees) to meet the needs of the district based upon weighted case filings.
[¶ 6] The following tables are divided into two geographical areas of contiguous counties in the district. The tables indicate the total filings and weighted filings in each county for the last three years. We regard the weighted filings as the more significant because the weighted filings are indicative of judge time required to dispose of a matter.
County 1999 1999 2000 2000 2001 2001 Weighted Actual Weighted Actual Weighted Actual Filings Filings Filings Filings Filings Filings Burke 7,182 465 12,337 552 9,354 547 Mountrail 19,167 1,258 19,525 1,212 22,483 1,184 Ward 245,512 8,908 240,463 8,649 264,529 9,538 Subtotals 271,861 10,631 272,325 10,413 296,366 11,269 Subtotal Percentage 68% 59% 65% 58% 68% 59% Divide 7,393 394 8,781 394 8,077 357 McKenzie 19,797 1,928 23,792 1,824 21,126 2,176 Williams 102,748 5,124 117,025 5,470 108,671 5,419 Subtotals 129,938 7,446 149,598 7,688 137,874 7,952 Subtotal Percentage 32% 41% 35% 42% 32% 41% District Totals 401,799 18,077 421,923 18,101 434,240 19,221 [¶ 7] When the chambers are transferred, 71.4 percent of the judicial FTEs (four judges and one referee) will be located in the eastern counties of Burke, Mountrail, and Ward and 28.6 percent of the judicial FTEs (two judges) will be in the western counties of Divide, McKenzie, and Williams. This would locate the judicial FTEs in close proximity to the workload.[¶ 8] The judicial FTE overage (shortage) by county in the district for the same three years is set out below.
County 1999 2000 2001
Burke -0.11 -0.19fn_ -0.15fn_ Mountrail 0.58 0.58 0.53 Ward 0.19 0.26 -0.11 Divide -0.11fn_ -0.14fn_ -0.13fn_ McKenzie 0.69 0.63 0.67 Williams 0.40 0.18 0.31
All counties without resident chambers will show a judicial shortage. Such counties are served by judges chambered in other counties in the district.
The computation for Ward County has not been adjusted for the death of Judge Glenn Dill in September 2001 or the subsequent transfer of the judgeship to the East Central Judicial District, but assumes three judges and one referee in that county for each full year. If Ward County had had only two judges and a referee located there, the same filings in Ward County would reflect a judicial shortage in the last three years as follows:
1999 2000 2001
-0.81 -0.74 -1.11
To adequately serve Ward County, it is necessary to have three judges and a referee located there.
i. Impact of any change of chamber on travel time for judges, court personnel, attorneys, and litigants.
[¶ 9] During the last biennium, the total mileage and average monthly mileage traveled by each judge and referee in the district was as follows:
Total Monthly Average
Connie Portscheller 3,064 128 Nels Olson 5,210 217 Gary Holum 2,812 117 David Nelson 15,057 627 Gerald Rustad 8,480 353 Glenn Dill 1,934 81 Robert Holte 20,491 854 William McLees 29,499 1,229
Since Judge Glenn Dill's death in September 2001, all judges of the district chambered outside of Minot have had to substantially increase their travel, although some travel may be due to factors other than the need to replace services previously provided by Judge Dill. For the months of September through December of 2001, our records reflect the following travel in the district:
Total Monthly Average
Connie Portscheller -0- -0- Nels Olson -0- -0- Gary Holum 428 107 David Nelson 6,289 1,572 Gerald Rustad 5,114 1,279 Robert Holte 4,189 1,047 William McLees 6,035 1,509
[¶ 10] Relocation of chambers will not eliminate travel by the judges but will reduce the travel that results because judicial resources are not proportionately located where the caseload arises.
j. Population distribution in the judicial district or de facto subdistrict.
[¶ 11] The population distribution of the district supports the relocation of the chambers of Judgeship No. 8, because the greater population is currently located in the three eastern counties. Burke, Mountrail and Ward counties have a total of 67,668 people according to the 2000 census. Divide, McKenzie and Williams counties have a total population of 27,781. Burke, Mountrail and Ward together have 71 percent of the population in the district. Divide, McKenzie and Williams have 29 percent of the district population. If the petition is granted, these population percentages would correspond closely with the location of judicial FTEs. With four judges and one referee located in Minot and Stanley, 71.4 percent of the judicial FTEs would be close to the eastern counties of Burke, Mountrail and Ward. With two judges located in Williston, 28.6% of the judicial FTEs would have close access to Divide, McKenzie and Williams counties.
[¶ 12] The population projections prepared by the State Data Center at North Dakota State University for the counties in this district indicate the following:
County 2005 2010 2015
Burke 1,922 1,764 1,609 Mountrail 6,609 6,617 6,641 Ward 60,880 61,531 62,049 Divide 2,026 1,864 1,717 McKenzie 5,464 5,415 5,341 Williams 20,213 20,162 20,149
Population is expected to decline in all but Ward and Mountrail counties; thus the greater need will continue to be served by relocation of the chambers.
l. Recommendation of the presiding judge of the judicial district, after consultation with the judges of the judicial district.
[¶ 13] This petition was brought by the presiding judge in the district after consultation with the judges and referee from the district. We regard the people who provide judicial services in the district as in the best position to understand the need to reallocate the available judicial resources. The assessment of the presiding judge is fully supported by the information we have reviewed. Judge William McLees, whose chambers are proposed to move, has indicated the information he reviewed and the needs of the district as a whole do not justify opposition to this relocation. The relocation of chambers requires substantial personal sacrifice from the judge whose chambers are moved and the judge's family. We gratefully acknowledge the willingness of Judge William McLees to relocate his chambers in order to serve the judicial needs of the entire Northwest Judicial District.
[¶ 14] IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, that Judgeship No. 8 in the Northwest Judicial District located in Watford City is transferred to Minot, effective July 1, 2002, to satisfy the demands of effective judicial administration in the Northwest Judicial District.
[¶ 15] The transfer of the Watford City judgeship is ordered with the intent and confidence that the Honorable Robert W. Holte, Presiding Judge of the Northwest Judicial District, together with the judges of the district and their successors, will continue to provide, through assignment, routine, effective judicial services to the area served by the Watford City judgeship.
[¶ 16] Because of unanticipated problems in effecting the transfer of judgeship No. 8 from Watford City to Minot, the original order in this matter, Petition to Change Resident Chamber from Watford City to Minot, 2002 ND 54, 643 N.W.2d 1, filed April 8, 2002, is amended to provide that the transfer is effective January 1, 2003.
[¶ 17] Gerald W. VandeWalle, C.J. Mary Muehlen Maring Carol Ronning Kapsner Dale V. Sandstrom William A. Neumann
[¶ 18] The Honorable Mary Muehlen Maring, Justice, being unavoidably absent, did not participate.