News

Supreme Court seeks public comment on time standards

June 14, 2001

The Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday adopted proposed time standards for trial judges.

The administrative order issued Thursday is a working model and may be modified again. The Court is awaiting public comment before adopting a final version. The 90-day public comment period begins today. Comments should be made in writing to: Clerk of the Court, P.O. Box 249, Jackson, MS 39205. Correspondence should be clearly marked "Comment on Proposed Time Standards for Trial Courts."

The version of time standards adopted Thursday has been revised from the framework first considered by the Court. The Court has attempted to take into consideration the concerns of the trial judges.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Edwin L. Pittman said that the trial judges "provided some good, legitimate suggestions of what we could do to make these time standards fit Mississippi's judicial system." For instance, districts which have only two court terms a year require consideration, Pittman said.

Pittman noted that the proposed guidelines exempt a list of proceedings from the time standards. For instance, capital cases in which the death penalty is sought are among the list of cases exempt from the guidelines. Bankruptcy proceedings toll the clock in civil cases.

The Supreme Court's administrative order and the proposed time standards are available on the Supreme Court web site at courts.ms.gov. The case number is 2001-AD-00001. If you do not have Internet access, call Beverly Pettigrew Kraft, court public information officer, at 601-354-7452, to obtain a fax copy of the proposed time standards.

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