FREQUESTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Updated 1/26/11 (Kansas Judicial/Court Staff Time Reporting) User IDs and Passwords 1. When will I be receiving my User ID and password? User IDs and passwords were hand delivered at the various training sessions. For those training sessions that were held by Webinars, those User IDs and passwords were mailed to the Chief Clerk or Court Administrator on Tuesday, January 18, 2011. 2. If I did not receive a password, who should I contact? You may contact the Help Desk by logging in to the website in which you will be reporting your time during this study: http://ncscsurveys.org/ks_dc/time_login.php or contact David Sigmon, OJA, at sigmond@kscourts.org. In addition, you may want to add this site to My Favorites and bookmark the site. You will then be able to go directly to the website from My Favorites each time you need to access the site rather than having to remember the website address. 3. Do I need a separate User ID and password for Court Staff work and Judicial work? No. You will be able to enter time under Court Staff work and Judicial work with the one User ID and password assigned to you. Most employees will only be entering their time under Court Staff or Judicial, but not both. Shared User IDs and passwords have been provided to those employees that would not necessarily report all tasks and assignments performed during the day. Those shared User IDs and passwords should be given to any employee that has not been provided an individual ID and will need to report some of their work functions under Court Staff or Judicial work. 4. Can I be logged into the reporting website from multiple locations at one time? Yes. You could be logged in on the computer at your desk and also logged in on a different computer in the courtroom. Likewise, multiple users can log in and enter time on the same shared User ID also. Please note that internet connections often have hiccups which may cause a connection to be lost. If you have not submitted your data prior to leaving the data entry website, your data could be lost. To ensure the data has been saved, click the Submit Entries button frequently to avoid any lost entries.
Miscellaneous 1. Can I submit data in parts throughout the day, or must I wait to the end of the day to report my time? Time can be entered at anytime that is convenient to you. You can record your time throughout the day, or if you prefer, enter it in batches at the end of the day. Just remember to hit the Submit Entries button as you go, so data entry is applied to the appropriate day and not lost. Participants can add to their time for any day by simply choosing the appropriate day, record the time and hit submit. For example, if on Friday you realized you forgot to enter an activity for the previous Monday s date, simply enter the previous Monday s date and enter the time reporting accordingly. 2. Why doesn t my field for Select Activity in the reporting screen give me any options when I hit the down arrow for that category? You must first select whether the work in which you are engaged in is Judicial work or Court Staff work before the activity list will be available. Remember, you will also need to enter a Case Type and the time associated with the activity before you can add your entry. 3. How do I delete an entry before I click on the Submit Entries button? If you have not yet clicked the Submit Entries button, you can highlight the information you have entered and click on the Delete Selected Entry button. 4. What happens if I make a mistake in my time reporting entry after I click on the Submit Entries button? If a mistake is made, a second entry should be made that will reflect the accurate reporting. An email should be sent to the Help Desk asking for the incorrect entry (line no. x ) to be deleted. It is not necessary to explain why the entry is incorrect. Please note that once the incorrect has been deleted from the database, you will STILL see the incorrect entry on your screen. You will receive a confirmation email indicating the incorrect entry has been deleted. 5. How do I verify that my time entries were saved? After submitting your time data, return to the time entry screen and scroll down to the Participant Time Entries section to review your saved and submitted time entries. 6. I just logged onto the data entry screen for the day, and when I click on the Total Time Entered field, it is still 0, even though I entered data yesterday. In addition, the bottom of the screen still shows the times and information that I entered yesterday. Is this correct? Everything on your screen is as it should be. The total time box represents the total time you enter at one data entry episode. For example, if you enter the time you spent for your morning activities, then click on Submit Entries, the total time box should be something close to 4 hours. The next 2
time you go to enter data, that field will be blank. The information at the bottom of your screen, titled Participant s Stored Entries will continue to grow throughout the time study. This is a running tally of all of the time you will have entered. Be aware, however, that if you should make a data entry error and ask us to change it, you will NOT see the change reflected on your stored entries. That change will be made to the master database, which is housed in a different location. 7. Will the County Dropdown box automatically default to the county I am working in or will I have to enter that county every time I make an entry? The county will default to the county you are assigned to. This will be based upon your User ID. 8. Do I have to report my time daily or can I input the information at the end of the week? You can report your time weekly, however, we would prefer you to enter your time at least daily to ensure greater accuracy. 9. Can the Daily Time Log be traced back to an individual employee? The Daily Time Log is not submitted, but rather is just a tool to help you with your reporting. We are only interested in the data you submit. We will look to see if a particular office is more efficient using the data submitted from the entire staff, but we only look individually to see if you are submitting ANY data. 10. If I take a 15 minute break during the day, how do I report that time? That time spent on break will not be reported. The purpose of this time study is to understand the work requirements of courts in Kansas. You should enter the amount of time you ACTUALLY work. That may be only 6 hours in one day or it could be 10 hours if you worked past 5:00 p.m. Remember, only report ACTUAL time spent working, and not necessarily all time in the office. We understand that employees will have scheduled breaks or trips to the water fountain, etc. 11. Will I be penalized for not reporting 8 hours each day if I am only a part time employee? No. The User ID will show the FTE of each employee entering time. It does not matter if you are full time or part time, we are only concerned if you are reporting time at all. We are not monitoring whether each employee is working 8 hours or 4 hours, respectively. 12. Is the Adequacy of Time Survey mandatory to complete? Yes. This will be an opportunity to hear your voice and concerns regarding your work for the court. If you feel rushed or need additional time to double check work, please indicate so in the survey. 13. Can I lump my time together that I spend doing work that is categorized in the same way, or do I have to enter each time I do that work throughout the day? We 3
would encourage you to lump your work together because it will be easier for you to report your time. For example, if you processed garnishments on 10 limited actions cases and each one took 10 minutes to complete, you would enter this time as follows: Time: One Hour 40 Minutes (10 cases x 10 minutes) Case Type: All Other LM Cases Work Type: Staff Work Activity: Case Specific, Post Judgment Work We do not want you to make 10 separate entries for 10 minutes each. 14. What is the case type RC shown in No. 11 under Domestic in Appendix D? RC cases are reciprocal cases that involve child support orders from another jurisdiction. Courts have the option of giving those cases a DM or RC designation in the case management systems (i.e. FullCourt). 15. At what point do I designate a case as a pro se litigant? If there is any party on a case that is unrepresented by an attorney, you should designate that time as a pro se litigant UNLESS it is at any point before or during the following: A. Criminal First Appearance B. Juvenile First Appearance C. Limited Actions Answer Docket After these three types of hearings, a defendant typically has the opportunity to seek or have an attorney appointed. 16. Should child support contempt proceedings, guardianship proceedings, or other probate proceedings that are scheduled as large dockets be considered pro se litigant cases since they are considered like a first appearance for those types of cases? Yes. These cases should be considered a pro se litigant case at any stage of the case. The only exception would be those cases just listed above in Miscellaneous Question No. 15. 17. Should small claims cases be reported as pro se litigants? Yes. Again, the only exception to pro se litigants are those cases listed above in Miscellaneous Question No. 15. 18. Should the pro se litigant box only be checked if there is personal contact with the pro se litigant? No. The pro se litigant box should be marked whenever you are working with a case that has a party that is unrepresented by an attorney. This 4
could be a phone call, personal contact, or processing paperwork filed by the pro se litigant. 19. How would I report time in a JV/CINC case in which one of the parents is not represented by an attorney? The time would be reported accordingly and the pro se litigant box would be checked. It does not matter if it is a party, parent, witness, etc. If anyone that may have an attorney is not represented, then the pro se litigant box should be marked. 20. At what point do I designate a case as a Non English Speaking party? This box should be used when an interpreter (or signer for a hearing impaired participant) is used or appointed. If you assist a person or engage in other case related work who has difficulty speaking the language, but does not use an interpreter, simply count this as regular time. The reason for this is that we need to use this information in conjunction with cases we can count as having used an interpreter. 21. How should I report cases involving sign language interpreters? Sign language interpreters, Spanish interpreters, Vietnamese interpreters, etc. are all reported the same by marking the Non English Speaking party box. There is no specific designation for each type of interpreter that may be required throughout the case. 22. Would a case be designated as a Non English Speaking party if an interpreter was used for a witness, but not a party in the case? Yes. The Non English Speaking party box should be marked whenever there is an interpreter used. It does not matter if the interpreter is for a party, witness or parent in a JV/CINC case. However, please note that we do not want time reported as a Non English Speaking party if the interpreter is a friend of the party or someone in the court system. We only want to record time spent when the interpreter is hired or appointed by the court. 23. How do I report cases in a multiple docket setting where there are only one or two cases out of the entire docket that are considered Non English Speaking? If the docket involved 100 minutes of time to report and only 25 minutes of that time was used for the Non English Speaking cases, then you would have two entries to report: one for 25 minutes with the Non English Speaking box marked and a second entry for 75 minutes without the Non English Speaking box marked. 24. How important is it that my time equal eight (8) hours each day? Equalling eight hours each day IS NOT NECESSARY. In fact, it is likely that you will take a lunch break and another short break or two, talk to a co worker, etc. These activities will take time away from your 8 5 work day and will likely result in an actual total amount of 5
working time less than eight hours. Simply record the time you are actually engaged in court work. 25. How do I report leave time on the website? Leave time is reported as follows: Activity: Non case specific Activity: Vacation/Illness/Military Leave 26. If I use two (2) hours of leave on a particular day, do I report that leave time? Yes. You will report all leave time taken during the reporting period. Court Staff Time Reporting 1. Who will be reporting time under Court Staff in this study? Clerks, administrative assistants, judicial secretaries, court reporters, CSOs, or any other employee doing Court Staff work as defined in Appendix B or C will report their time as Court Staff when working in that capacity. Only judges, law clerks, and possibly court administrators will be entering time under Judicial work. 2. How should I record my time when trying to find and schedule an interpreter? This time should be recorded as case specific, case management as shown in the definitions provided in Appendix B. 3. How would I report time involving marriage licenses? When a party is applying for a marriage license, the time should be recorded as non case specific, customer service. After the 3 day waiting period and the license is being issued, the time should be recorded as case specific, case initiation. If a party is merely calling inquiring as to the cost, etc. of a marriage license, this time will also be reported as non case specific, customer service. 4. Should I report my time at the counter or in the courtroom when I act as an interpreter? No. If your only function is to act as an interpreter, you would not report that time. We are only interested in Court Staff functions at this time. If, however, you act as an interpreter, but also handle other Court Staff functions while at the counter or in the courtroom, then that time would be recorded accordingly. 5. Should I report time I spend processing documents filed by pro se litigants? If the documents filed by pro se litigants can be identified and time accounted for, this time should be reported as a pro se litigant. For example, if the pro se litigant brings 6
in a document to be filed and asks questions relating to procedure, etc., then this time should be reported with the pro se litigant box marked. 6. How should work be reported when a supervisor is training a new employee? The work being performed by the new employee should be recorded as the actual work being performed (i.e. case initiation or case processing). The supervisor will report the training as non case specific, non case related administration. 7. How do I report multi tasking functions? This will most often occur when a judge is waiting on parties during a hearing or jury trial and the clerk is able to do other work such as enter pleadings on the ROA or set hearings while waiting for court to begin again. There would be two entries for this multi tasking function: one to record the hearing or jury trial time (including the waiting time) and a second entry to record the amount of time used for entering pleadings on the ROA or setting hearings accordingly. 8. Do I have to take additional time to separate a stack of paperwork that needs filestamped or processed? We do not want to create additional work for you in order to report your time. However, we also understand that in order to get the level of detail with reporting the various Case Types or Activities, you may want to consider separating or sorting paperwork by Case Type or Activity to assist with the time reporting. If that will create too much additional work for you, then we would suggest you make a best estimate of your time. 9. How would time be reported for a name change using the Vital Statistics VS 211 form? If this is a form that is only signed by the judge and an actual civil case is not necessary to be filed, this time should be reported as non case specific, customer service. 10. How would time be reported for records destruction? As indicated in Appendix C, this type of work would be reported as non case specific, general records management. 11. How would time in the courtroom be reported when there are multiple dockets such as limited answer dockets and also hearings in aid? This courtroom time would be reported as case specific, courtroom support/monitoring. As you will note in Appendix B, courtroom support/monitoring has its own activity and is not listed under case processing or post judgment work. As far as reporting the Case Type, it will depend on the type of work. If, for example, you spend 2 hours in the courtroom for eight (8) cases, you would have a separate entry for each Case Type. If it took approximately 15 minutes each to 7
hear 8 cases on this docket (2 DUI cases, 1 FG misdemeanor case, 3 criminal felony cases, and 2 traffic misdemeanor cases), you would report your time as follows: Entry No. 1 Time: 30 Minutes Case Type: Traffic DUI Work Type: Staff Work Activity: Case Specific, Courtroom support/monitoring Entry No. 2 Time: 45 Minutes (1 FG and 2 TR misd.) Case Type: Traffic Misdemeanors Work Type: Staff Work Activity: Case Specific, Courtroom support/monitoring Entry No. 3 Time: 45 Minutes Case Type: Criminal All Other Felony Work Type: Staff Work Activity: Case Specific, Courtroom support/monitoring We understand that you may have to make an educated guess as to the time for each case, but we ask that you make that determination and report it accordingly. Do not worry about a few minutes off on the individual time reporting entries. 12. How do I report time opening the daily mail? As listed in Appendix C, this type of work would be reported as non case specific, non case related administration. This would also include the time spent going to the post office to collect the mail or drop off the mail processed throughout the day. 13. How would I report time setting a probate case that has not yet been filed? Since a case has not yet been filed, this should be recorded as non case specific, customer service. 14. How would I report my time spent transcribing a hearing when a transcript has been requested, but no court reporter was used for the hearing? As noted in Appendix B, this time should be recorded as case specific, courtroom support/monitoring. 15. Will I report all of time working during the day if I am a Court Reporter? Not necessarily. You will only report the time you spend performing Court Staff duties as defined in Appendix B and C. You will not report time spent making a record in 8
court or preparing a transcript upon request. For example, if you are in the courtroom with the judge and assisting with the docket, but not recording the record, that time would be reported as case specific, courtroom support/monitoring. If you also answer the phone, schedule hearings or prepare correspondence for the judge, you would report that time as judicial support work. It will depend upon the task as to whether it would be case specific or non case specific. 16. How will I report my time as a transcriptionist if I also do work for the judge? When you are performing transcribing duties and are not a court reporter, whether it be monitoring the electronic recording as the hearing is heard or transcribing the record after a request is made, you would report that time as case specific, courtroom support/monitoring. The other duties, such as answering the phone, scheduling hearings and preparing correspondence, IF PERFORMED DIRECTLY FOR A JUDGE, would be recorded as judicial support work. It will depend upon the task as to whether it would be case specific or non case specific. 17. If I am a court employee hired as an interpreter, will I report my time acting as an interpreter? No. You will only report the time you spend performing Court Staff duties as defined in Appendix B and C. You will not report time you spend acting as an interpreter UNLESS you are performing Court Staff at the same time. For example, if you are an interpreter and go into the courtroom or interpret at the counter for someone, this time would not be recorded. However, if while interpreting, you also answer phones or other Court Staff work and the interpreting is an added benefit or bonus, you would report the Court Staff time accordingly. 18. How would I report my time as a CSO secretary? Support work performed for CSOs is not listed in Appendix B or C for Court Staff work and would not be reported as part of this time study. However, if you would perform any of the duties listed in Appendix B or C, your time would be reported accordingly. 19. If I am an IT programmer for the courts, how will I report my time? IT Staff will not report time in this study unless you are performing Court Staff duties as defined in Appendix B and C. As you will note in Appendix C, the IT Support listed under non case specific, non case related administration would be for those courts that do not have IT staff and try to trouble shoot before calling a vendor. 20. Should I only report time spent as a bailiff during court recesses and before the trial starts or do I count the time I m in the courtroom during the trial? All time would be counted as case specific, courtroom support/monitoring, including the 9
time of the actual trial because you have to be in the courtroom most of the time to know when a break will be taken. Please note, however, that if you are the bailiff for a jury trial, the time would be reported as case specific, jury services. 21. How do I report time when I am preparing a file for the Appellate Court? As indicated in Appendix B, this type of work would be reported as case specific, post judgment work. 22. How would I report my time spent doing criminal record checks for CSOs in other counties? This time would be reported as case specific, case related customer service. The county that would be reported for this time would be the county where the records are being searched and not in the county that is requesting the search. 23. How would I report my time spent doing genealogy searches for the public? This type of record search would be recorded as case specific, case related customer service if there were records found. If no records were found, the time would be reported as non case specific, customer service. 24. Appendix C for Court Staff lists record requests as non case specific, customer service. When would I report time in this situation? An example of this type of work would be those record checks for employment or the military that are looking at all case types and does not restrict the search to a specific case type. There may or may not be any cases found in these record searches. 25. How do I report my time spent doing juror summons? As you will see in Appendix C, this type of work will be reported as non case specific, out of courtroom jury services. Even if you are a court that only does one jury trial for one case, we are still wanting this time reported as non case specific so that we may track all of the time it takes for this process. 26. How would I report my time as an Administrative Assistant, Secretary or Court Reporter who types opinions, takes dictation, or answers phones for the judges? This type of work would be reported as Court Staff work under judicial support work as defined in Appendix B and C. This category is listed under case specific and non case specific and should be reported accordingly. 27. As an AA, would I report my time working on jury summons as judicial support work also? No. This work is defined in Appendix C as non case specific, out of 10
courtroom jury services and any individual performing this task would report their time that way. 28. If an AA is on vacation and the judge asks a clerk to fill in, how would I report those duties? Your time would be reported according to what your task was. For example, if the judge asks you to prepare an order or journal entry, you would record that time as case specific, case processing. Please note you would not record any time under judicial support work. That activity will be for AAs, judicial secretaries and possibly CSRs to report time that would not be defined as Court Staff work, but rather would be work that is direct support to judges. Judicial Time Reporting 1. Who will report time under Judicial time for this study? Judges, senior judges, pro tem judges, law clerks or possibly court administrators that perform any tasks as defined in Appendix B or C. Please note that clerks, administrative assistants, judicial secretaries, court reporters, CSOs or any other employee will report their time under Court Staff work, and not Judicial work. 2. Should I report my time as a senior judge? Yes. Senior judge time will ALWAYS be reported. 3. Should I report my time as a pro tem judge? Usually. Pro tem judge time will be reported UNLESS the appointment is because the replaced judge is: A. On vacation B. Using sick leave C. Attending a CLE or other training 4. How do I report multi tasking functions? This will most often occur when a judge is waiting on parties during a hearing or jury trial and the judge is able to review a case or other work. There would be two entries for multi tasking functions: one to record the hearing or jury trial time (including the waiting time) and a second entry to record the amount of time used for reviewing a case or other work accordingly. 5. How should I report time spent reviewing jury trial instructions one week in advance of the scheduled jury trial? This work would be recorded as case specific, jury trial activities. As you will note in Appendix B, the definition of jury trial activities also includes time spent preparing jury instructions. There may be time recorded for jury trial activities that are not necessarily performed during the actual jury trial dates. 11
6. Should a Court Administrator report time under Judicial time for those tasks when they are working with the Chief Judge on personnel, facilities, budget, etc.? Yes. This time would be reported as Judicial time under non case specific, non case related administration as defined in Appendix C. 7. If I am a Law Clerk doing work for my judge, how will I report this time? Any time that you are performing work as defined in Appendix B or C of Judicial time, you will report that time accordingly. 12