Supreme Court of Missouri
en banc

In re:

Repeal of subdivisions 17.21, 17.23, 17.25, 17.32, 17.33, and 17.40 of Court Operating Rule 17, entitled "Case Processing Time Standards," and in lieu thereof adoption of new subdivisions 17.21, 17.23, 17.25, 17.26, 17.27, 17.32, 17.33, and 17.40 of Court Operating Rule 17, entitled "Case Processing Time Standards."




1.  It is ordered that effective January 1, 2009, subdivisions 17.21, 17.23, 17.25, 17.32, 17.33, and 17.40 of Court Operating Rule 17 be and the same are hereby repealed and new subdivisions 17.21, 17.23, 17.25, 17.26, 17.27, 17.32, 17.33, and 17.40 adopted in lieu thereof to read as follows:

• 17.21 Ninety-five percent of the cases in each case type covered by the standards shall be disposed in the time frame shown below in column C. This standard is set at less than 100 percent because it is recognized that litigation with complex substantive and procedural issues or litigation involving extraordinary circumstances may require additional time.

17.23 TIME FRAMES AND STANDARDS

	A	B	C	D
	Local Goal at least 50% Disposed in	Standard 90% Disposed in	Standard 95% Disposed in	Excluded Time
Circuit Civil	12 months	24 months	30 months	See COR 17.26 and 17.27
Domestic Relations	4 months	10 months	14 months	See COR 17.26
Associate Civil	4 months	6 months	12 months	See COR 17.26 and 17.27
Circuit Felony	4 months	10 months	14 months	See COR 17.24, 17.25, and 17.26
Associate Criminal	3 months	6 months	8 months	See COR 17.24, 17.25, and 17.26

17.25 If a county is in a district that the state public defender director has certified as limited availability to accept additional cases, the presiding judge for that court may enter a waiver of compliance with criminal time standards (only associate criminal, only circuit felony or for both classes of cases).  If the presiding judge enters a waiver, a copy will be submitted to the state courts administrator, so that all cases disposed during the period of limited availability will be omitted for the purposes of sections 17.40 and 17.45, and a copy will be submitted to the state public defender director.

17.26  Periods of time during which a defendant is in a court- supervised specialty court or program (e.g., drug, DWI, mental health, child support, domestic violence), from admission through exit, shall be excluded from the age of the case that precipitated entry into the specialty court or program.
 
17.27  The period of time between entry of an order for a bankruptcy stay through the lifting of the stay shall be excluded when calculating the age of the relevant case.

17.32 Circuit Felony Case Types. Felony indictments and informations.

Filing:  The date of filing of the felony information or indictment or receipt of case documents on a change of venue or, for supplemental filings, the date the supplemental filing was initiated, for example a motion for new trial is sustained or a plea of guilty is withdrawn.

Resolution:  The date the jury reaches a verdict, the trial court enters a finding of guilt, dismissal, or incompetency, the prosecutor dismisses the case, the case is transferred to another county on a change of venue or the case is otherwise disposed, whichever first occurs.

 17.33  Associate Criminal Case Types. Felony cases prior to the filing of the indictment or information, misdemeanor cases, serious traffic and serious watercraft cases, municipal trials de novo, and misdemeanor certifications.

Filing:  The date of the filing of the felony complaint or affidavit, misdemeanor information, or receipt of case documents on a change of venue or, for supplemental filings, the date the supplemental filing was initiated, for instance a motion for new trial is sustained or a plea of guilty is withdrawn.

Resolution:  The date the case is bound over, the preliminary hearing is waived, an indictment is filed, the trial court enters a finding of guilt, dismissal, or incompetency, the jury reaches a verdict, the prosecutor dismisses the case, the case is transferred to another county on a change of venue or the case is otherwise disposed, whichever first occurs.

 17.40 Compliance with these standards shall be based on the data collected by the office of state courts administrator and evaluated on a circuit basis.  Published reports will include the actual achievement of the 90% and 95% standards. Reports showing the achievement of the local goal time frame will be provided only to the applicable circuit.

2.  It is ordered that notice of this order be published in the Journal of The Missouri Bar.

3.  It is ordered that this order be published in the South Western Reporter.

4. The state courts administrator shall provide copies of this order to every presiding circuit court judge and circuit clerk and such other persons as the administrator deems appropriate.

Day - to - Day

____________________________
LAURA DENVIR STITH
Chief Justice