- How long does the study last?
- The time study begins Monday, October 1, 2007 and ends on Wednesday, October 31, 2007.
- Do I only record the time I spend working during normal office hours? What if I work at home on evenings or during the weekend?
- It is important to record ALL time spent working regardless of when and where it occurs. Please be sure to report all work time, including any time spent working overtime or during evenings and weekends.
- Do I record the time I spend commuting to my court from home each day in the Travel Category?
- Judges or judicial officers who serve only one county:
- Traveling to and from home to his/her court constitutes local commuting time and should NOT be counted as travel time.
- Time spent traveling to and from one's court to another location within or outside the county for any court-related business, including meetings, should be counted as travel time.
- Judges or judicial officers who serve multiple counties:
- Travel to and from home to his/her court in the county in which the judge resides constitutes local commuting time and should NOT be counted as travel time.
- The following should be counted as travel time: 1) time spent traveling between counties for any court-related business; and 2) time spent traveling to and from one's court to another location within or outside the county for any court-related business, including meetings.
- When is it necessary for a visiting judge to participate in the time study?
- All visiting judges who regularly staff an auxiliary court or regularly handle a special docket must participate in the study.
- A temporary visiting judge who is filling in for a judge who is sick, on vacation, or attending a continuing education class, etc. for five (5) working days (i.e., Monday through Friday) or less is not to participate in the study.
- A temporary visiting judge who is filling in for a judge who is sick, on vacation, handling the court's docket while the judge is presiding over a capital murder trial or other lengthy trial for more than five (5) days, etc., the time spent by the visiting judge must be reported.
- How do I account for waiting time (e.g., sitting on the bench waiting for an attorney to show up)?
- The time waiting for a particular event to take place should be attributed to the event and the case type for which you are waiting (e.g., Trial – Felony Group A). However, if you are waiting and engage in another activity, your time should be attributed to the activity you are performing (e.g., signing orders or other documents).
- How do I account for multitasking? For example, what if I am signing orders and correspondence during a trial?
- When multitasking, record only the time spent on the primary activity or event. For example, if you sign orders during a trial, the time would be associated with Trial. Do NOT double count your time.
- When can time be recorded as Community Activities and Public Outreach?
- If a judge or judicial officer attends and speaks at a local meeting (County Board meeting, Rotary Club, etc.) in his/her capacity as a judge or judicial officer, this time should be reported in the study under Community Activities and Public Outreach. The key is whether the purpose/attendance is directly related to the individual's position as a judge or judicial officer.
- Should time be recorded for teaching classes for which the judge or judicial officer is compensated?
- No, this time is not recorded.
- How do I account for a situation where I am working in a high volume setting and working on different short duration activities representing different case types?
- There are two potentials answers to this question. The first is to make use of the Supplemental Time Log. A short training video on how to use the Supplemental Time Log is provided on the OCA Web site at: http://www.courts.state.tx.us/oca/jnas/trftutorial.asp
- The second and less desirable solution is to make use of the category called Miscellaneous Case Activity on the Daily Time Log. For example, a judge may be in his/her chambers reviewing and signing orders or other documents representing a number of different case types. For some of the cases, the act of reviewing and signing may be very short in duration, making the use of the Supplemental Time Log challenging. In this scenario, a judge could choose to mark down the time he/she spends reviewing and signing orders or other documents (e.g., 45 minutes), Miscellaneous Case Activity, and finally associate their time to a case-related event (e.g., Pre-trial).
- Can I submit information several times throughout the day? If I click on the "Log Out" button, will my information be there when I return to submit more information later that day?
- You can submit information several times over the course of the day if you wish.
- Each time the "add activity" button is selected, the information is transmitted to the National Center for State Court's (NCSC) database. As you submit several entries over the course of the day, your information will be supplemented in NCSC's database for that particular day. However upon logging out and logging back in you will still be able to see the entries that were made during that day. This will reset each evening (midnight EST) and you will NOT be able to view previous entries.
- To avoid potential data entry errors, it is recommended that you record all your time on the daily time log and submit your time online at the end of the day.
- Who should I notify in the event I have trouble logging in or submitting my time?
- Please contact Scott Maggard at NCSC via email, smaggard@ncsc.dni.us or (757) 259-1506.
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Updated: 03-Oct-2007
