2008 Budget Book - Kitsap County Government

Law & Justice - Courts
Superior Court
Purpose:
The Superior Court is a court of general jurisdiction having original and appellate jurisdiction as
authorized by the Constitution and the laws of the State of Washington. The Court exists to resolve
disputes arising in the following case types:
• Felony matters
• All Civil matters
• Juvenile matters, including actions involving both offenders and non-offenders
• Domestic relations matters
• Adoptions
• Guardianship and Probate matters
• Paternity matters
• Domestic Violence cases
• Appeals from Courts of Limited Jurisdiction and Administrative Agencies
• Mental Health issues.
To fulfill its mission, and in addition to traditional court case processing models, the Superior Court
operates four distinct problem-solving courts, including:
• an Adult Drug Court;
• a Family Dependency Drug Court;
• a Juvenile Drug Court; and,
• an Individual Treatment Court.
The Court encourages the resolution of citizen disputes through time-tested, alternative dispute methods
that include mandatory civil arbitration, mediation and settlement conferences.
Mission Statement:
• Adjudicate all cases, both criminal and civil, in a just and timely manner
• Assure due process and equal protection under the law
• Promote access to justice to all persons
• Instill public confidence and trust in the judiciary
2007 Accomplishments:
• Completed and adopted a comprehensive set of written court security protocols to govern judicial
and staff responses to emergent security incidents.
• Updated the Title 11 and Title 26 Guardian ad Litem Registries as required by statute, and State
and local court rules.
• Graduated forty-four Adult Drug Court participants, four Family Dependency Drug Court
participants, and the first juvenile participant from the newly-formed Individual Treatment Court.
• The Adult Drug Court received only the 2 nd Community Transformation Award given by the
National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP).
• Secured 50% State funding for non-English and American Sign Language interpretation needs
through a statewide, competitive grant process.
• Developed a Language Assistance Plan to govern service and facility access for court customers
with limited English proficiency.
2008 Goals & Objectives:
• We will promote Effective and Efficient County Services by actively contributing to the
renovation of courthouse space to provide improved facilities for jurors, court customers, judges
and court staff.
• We will promote Effective and Efficient County Services by providing continuous training to
staff and judges to ensure a high level of competency and efficiency.
• We will promote Effective and Efficient County Services by developing an effective training
mechanism and providing court security training for judges, clerks and administrative staff using
the newly-adopted written security protocols.
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