Chief Patron: McDonnell
Judicial Performance Evaluation

Item 25 #2h

Language
Page 16, line 3, strike "$10,666,193" and insert "$11,140,734".
Page 16, line 3, strike "$10,699,976" and insert "$11,210,423".
Page 16, after line 39, insert:
"F.  Out of the amounts included for General Management and Direction, $474,541 the first year and $510,447 the second year from the general fund is provided for the estimated costs of fully implementing the Judicial Performance Evaluation Project."

Explanation
(This amendment provides additional general fund dollars to the Virginia Supreme Court for the full implementation of the Judicial Performance Evaluation (JPE) Project. This project is designed to produce objective evaluations of judges' performance through observation by retired judges and lay people. After having been adequately trained, the observers will monitor judges' performance on three separate occasions and develop written evaluations of those judges. These written evaluations are then reviewed by "facilitator" judges who then discuss the observers' findings with the judge in question. Ultimately, the project process should identify areas in which judges can improve their on-the-job performance. The general fund dollars included in this amendment account for training costs, per diem payments for retired judges, travel reimbursements, survey analysis costs, and meetings of JPE Commission. Funding for a pilot version of the Judicial Performance Evaluation Project was provided for fiscal year 2004.)