Introduction to the Court

The Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada, located in Clark County is the largest general jurisdiction court in the State of Nevada. The court serves all municipalities and outlying communities of Clark County, the largest of which is Las Vegas. The Family Division of the Eighth Judicial District Court was created in 1993. A total of 13 judges preside over more than 58,000 cases annually. The Family Division judges preside over matters involving divorce, child custody, child support, protection orders against domestic violence, termination of parental rights, adoption, mental health, and guardianship. The Juvenile Division judges preside over matters involving delinquency (violations committed by minors) and abuse/neglect.

The City of Las Vegas and Clark County have seen unprecedented increases in population and corresponding increases in court caseloads in recent years. The population of Clark County has more than doubled in only 13 years. The Family Court caseload has more than doubled during that same period. According to the U.S Census Bureau, 68.8 percent of Nevada’s population resides in Clark County, an increase from 61.7 percent in 1990. The current population of Clark County is 1,912,654 1.

 Nature of Challenges Facing the Court

The facility of the Juvenile and Family Courts is located away from the other divisions of the court on a 40 acre tract of land initially donated for the purpose of housing the Juvenile Court and Detention Facility. It occupies 193,640 square feet and houses approximately 1,000 employees. Approximately 48,000 visitors enter the facility each month. The campus consists of a number of buildings that include the Court House, the Juvenile Detention Center, two buildings that house Juvenile Justice agencies, and a number of support divisions for the Court and other county services. As the population of the area and caseloads have increased over time, additional services have been moved to the facility.

Since the events of September 11, 2001, there has been an increased awareness of the vulnerability of public buildings and an increased desire to protect employees and visitors to such locations. Courts have also seen a significant increase in violence, particularly those courts dealing with domestic and juvenile issues that often involve litigants and others engaged in emotional and conflicted relationships. Although criminal courts have always been a focus of security efforts, the security needs of family and juvenile courts are often under estimated. Recent events around the country, and in Clark County itself, have drawn attention to these vulnerabilities in the Family and Juvenile Court facility. Most recently, four bailiffs and a defendant in a case in the Family Division were injured as the adult defendant became violent while being remanded to custody by the judge.

The judges of the Eighth Judicial District, Family Division requested assistance in conducting an assessment of current emergency management and court security concerns, seeking to develop a strategy to enhance court security for the public and for staff.

Strategy for Mobilizing a Change Effort

Individuals from within the court and outside the court—knowledgeable about the physical plant, policies and operations of the facility—were identified and invited to participate in the effort. Despite significant turnover in the leadership of the court, during 2005 and 2006, a group of key court stakeholders continued to focus on this topic and worked with the Partner Court team as information was collected on the facility and its operation. Judicial officers and key staff of the court provided valuable information, and a preliminary assessment of security and physical plant operations was conducted.

The assessment was conducted in concert with the U.S. Marshal’s Office, and utilized the “National Sheriffs’ Association Physical Security Checklist.” That assessment was conducted by multiple evaluators under the direction of the Chief Administrative Bailiff of the court and the U.S. Marshal’s Service. In February 2007, an independent security survey was conducted by an expert consultant provided by the Partner Court Initiative that included an unannounced, after-hours, light penetration survey as well as an independent assessment of security and emergency management policies, procedures and practices.

The information collected from interviews, literature research and both security surveys was provided to the policy and working team as a background against which to develop their goals and recommendations.

Accomplishments

The issue of security sparked a great deal of interest on the part of numerous stakeholders, both within and outside of the court. The team that coalesced around the work included:

• Assistant Court Administrator, 8 th Judicial District Court, Family Division
• Acting Assistant Court Administrator, 8 th Judicial District Court, Family Division
• Assistant Director, Department of Juvenile Justice
• Sergeant, Emergency Management Section of Homeland Security Bureau, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
• Security Supervisor, Clark County Real Property Management
• Sergeant, Family Court Bailiffs
• Management Analyst, 8th Judicial District Court, Family Division

The court policy team was presented with the information and insights compiled from interviews with key stakeholders, the results of the security surveys, and a review of the literature on current best practices. The team articulated a unified vision for its work on security issues. Team members agreed that they would undertake efforts to:

“Provide a safe and secure facility that provides the degree of openness to the public required, makes appropriate use of facilities, but also provides a safe environment for employees and the public. We will also have the capacity to communicate and respond to emergency situations.”

Based on the information from the surveys and interviews, and in light of its unified vision, the team agreed on a set of goals that, if accomplished, would significantly enhance the court’s ability to make its vision of a safe and secure facility a reality. These goals and the strategies adopted to achieve them fall in a number of key areas.

• Policies regarding access to areas and times based on actual need;
• Restricting access of personnel based on their specific responsibilities;
• Clarifying policies regarding after-hour card access for employees;
• Making use of escort procedures for after-hour access;
• Developing more strategic use of facility space, consolidating like functions and relocating inconsistent services to more appropriate locations;
• Integrating security considerations explicitly in all planning for construction and renovations;
• Developing a detailed joint Executive Order or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the Court, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Family Services, the District Attorney, and the Police Department identifying and endorsing security as a priority. This would provide a clear statement from all stakeholder agency heads that are housed in the facility, clarifying and directing employees on the expectations relative to security efforts.
• Improving communications capabilities for security and safety efforts to include intercom and email resources;
• Reviewing and enhancing the effectiveness of the facility identification and access badge system;
• Clarifying and improving policies regarding night and weekend access by employees and visitors;
• Improving specific deterrence features (signage, cameras, lighting, search procedures, parking access, unrestricted lines of sight, etc.);
• Improving video surveillance in terms of placement and staffing;
• Increasing uniformed presence and capabilities, including expanded availability and skill in use of “less than lethal” weapons;
• Clarifying chain of command and appropriate authority of security personnel and supervisors;
• Enhancing the use of table top and live exercises regarding emergency preparedness;
• Establishing a multi-jurisdictional planning and response team and reviewing/improving all existing response protocols, standard operating procedures, post orders and hazards plans;
• Improving consistency between policies and procedures in use at the Regional Justice Center and the Juvenile and Family Court Facility;
• Developing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU’s) between agencies likely to be involved in emergency and situational responses; and
• Establishing an intelligence file system for individuals known to have made threats and with a history of violent behavior.

Lessons

The experience of conducting a comprehensive, structured, and collaborative planning and implementation process regarding security in the Family division of the Eighth Judicial Court has highlighted a number of key lessons.

• As key stakeholders came together during this process, they articulated very clearly that, although family and juvenile courts are often seen as having fewer security challenges than other courts, security issues are of great importance to the family court and present unique and complex challenges to the court community;
• Although each member of the team involved in this effort was quite knowledgeable about court operations and various aspects of security challenges, as they came together to consider the results of individual interviews and the security surveys themselves, they began to develop a more comprehensive, shared, and realistic understanding of the current situation—challenges, strengths, and opportunities for change; and
• Because there are so many stakeholders within the court and external to the court with some responsibility and/or expertise on security matters, it was extremely important to bring those stakeholders into the planning and implementation process.

For further information about the security efforts of the Family Division of the 8 th District Judicial Court in Nevada, please contact Oly Embry, Management Analyst, 601 N. Pecos Road, Las Vegas, NV 89101-2408, 702-455-2391, FCADCSO9@co.clark.nv.us

1 http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html