Commentary: Public input crucial to court changes

Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.

- Harry S. Truman

Just like any large business, the Jackson County Circuit Court must look at ways to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible during challenging economic times. Change is never easy, but it is absolutely necessary to any organization that wants to improve itself. The key to successful change is well-thought out planning that involves all stakeholders.

To that end, the 16th Circuit Court is beginning a comprehensive strategic planning process we hope to complete in the next couple of months.

A key element of our strategic planning process is soliciting lots of input from our employees, the Bar, and pro se litigants. As customers of the court, we need your input. We want to not only assess how we are currently doing, we want your ideas on ways we can do things better.

What are ways we can make cases move along more efficiently? What resources could we offer that would assist in resolving cases prior to trial? What tools can we provide our employees to help them do their work more effectively?

Those are just some of the many questions we will be seeking answers to through the planning process. As members of the Bar, many of you will soon be receiving our strategic planning survey. I can not emphasize how important it is that you take just a few minutes of your time to complete this survey and return it to us.

Once the surveys are distributed and returned, all of the input we receive from employees, members of the Bar, jurors and Pro Se litigants will be compiled. When information is compiled, the two court employees leading our planning process will form focus groups from the various constituent groups. The focus groups will come from those who completed the surveys and volunteered to be part of this process.

After the focus groups have met to offer further input and fine- tune suggestions and ideas, all this information will be organized into a strategic plan for our judges to discuss at a February planning retreat.

I encourage each of you receiving our survey to seize your opportunity to change things for the better in our court. To truly move the court forward in a positive direction, each one us must be willing to offer our own ideas and input. It is that diversity of ideas that makes our country, and our court, great.

Judge Jay A. Daughtery is the presiding judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit in Jackson County.

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