1. Courtwatch of Contested Restraining Order Hearings
in Multnomah County
Local Public Safety Coordinating Council
November 2, 2010

2. What Is A Courtwatch?
Courtwatch is a great model for assessing and evaluating court processes, including criminal justice cases
Observe individual hearings in different courtrooms
Identify practices and trends
Identify opportunities for improvement
Provide information & feedback
Monitor changes over time

3. Why This Courtwatch?
Identify current practices and changes over the past 15 years
More RO’s are contested (>50%)
Significant court time in RO processing & hearings
No systematic observation of RO hearings in 15+ years
New laws, new judges
Judges don’t see each other’s courtroom practices
Other system changes (DVERT, non-shelter DV victim services, etc.) may impact RO process
ID positive & concerning issues across the system: environment, court, security, attorneys, advocates
Identify areas for improvements

4. Observed Hearings Hearings between October 2008-April 2009
Contested FAPA, EDAPA & renewal hearings
Most 5 & 21-day hearings on the regular docket
A handful of hearings on the long docket
413 scheduled events/383 unique cases
167 contested hearings observed
40% of scheduled events
Most judges observed in 10 or more contested hearings

5. Themes Noted: Security & safety issues Courtroom environment
A significant number of failures to appear
Procedures & styles vary by courtroom
Few attorneys
Few DV victim advocates

6. Findings The Parties The Hearings
72% female petitioners, male respondents
16% male petitioners, female respondents
8% same-gender petitioners & respondents
4% had one party of unknown gender
The Hearings
413 scheduled events / 167 contested hearings
40% of scheduled hearings went forward
33% of hearings had one or both parties fail to appear
17% were set over
5% were dismissed or modified by agreement, no contested hearing
5% unknown outcome

7. Failures to appear Attorneys Interpreters
Petitioners (25%) are more likely to miss hearings than Respondents (16%)
Male Petitioners (26%) are more likely to miss hearings than female Petitioners (21.5%)
Attorneys
92% of hearings have at least 1 unrepresented party
If only one party is represented, the represented party is significantly more likely to prevail
Interpreters
Interpreters present for 8% of scheduled hearings and 6% of hearings that actually take place
Languages: Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese & an Ethiopian language
Hearings involving interpreters are twice as long

8. Differences in Outcomes By Judge: Averages & Ranges
Low
High
Vacated/ Dismissed
37%
15%
58%
Modified
28%
11%
62%
Upheld, no changes
35%
23%
60%
Only the 7 judges we observed for at least 10 contested hearings are included in this table
Average dismissed in 2002 file review: 31.5%

9. Differences in Hearing Length By Judge
Vacated
Modified
Upheld
Average
36 minutes
35 minutes
34 minutes
Low
4 minutes
3 minutes
High
2 hrs. 2 minutes
2 hrs. 48 minutes
3 hrs. 6 minutes
Average hearing length with attorneys: 46 minutes
Average hearing length without attorneys: 30 minutes
Shortest/longest average hearings by judge, excluding very short (< 5 min.) and very long (>2 hrs.) hearings:
Judge with shortest average: 20 minutes
Judge with longest average: 45 minutes
Average contested hearing length in : 10.7 minutes

10. Other Issues Noted By Observers
Related criminal or VRO charges noted in 15% of scheduled hearings
37% of these were set over at least once
Some defense attorneys use RO hearings as opportunity for discovery
Custody/parenting time issues noted in 51% of contested hearings
Weapons dispossession rarely discussed (7%)
Courtrooms often too small for these hearings

11. Areas for Improvement Integrity of process & court atmosphere
Proactively address potential for intimidation & safety threats
Establish tone of respect and fairness
Consistency
Provide consistent information to parties
Establish consistent procedures across courtrooms
Process
Recognize the court’s moral authority
Access to courts can create safety, even if RO is dismissed
Self-help process
Expect to provide more information to self-represented parties

12. Potential Impact of Budget Cuts
Loss of security staff at courthouse could lead to increased danger for victims, court staff
Lack of court time to fully consider facts and communicate expectations to parties
Increased demands on staff time
Increase in self-represented parties

13. Courtwatch Observer’s Comment:
“The courtroom atmosphere is important – at least people should feel safe in the courtroom. If the court can’t protect them during the hearing, how can a restraining order?”