Like several of his colleagues, Sen. Kenneth Gittens complimented Regina deChabert Petersen, administrator of Courts, on her testimony at Tuesday’s Rules and Judiciary Committee hearing. But, like several of his colleagues, he also asked how the judiciary branch could speed up its handling of cases, especially those in Probate Court.
Sen. Carla Joseph, committee chair, said some probate cases “go on for years and years.”
She said there must be something fundamentally wrong with the way probate cases are handled in the Virgin Islands because probate cases stateside are usually resolved in 60 days.
Petersen said part of the problem was an antiquated code that convoluted the probate process. She said cases “were not stuck in court, only because of the court.” She added that members of the judicial branch were committed to finding a solution.
Sen. Marvin Blyden asked if creating a Probate Division would solve the problem. Petersen said it would cost $1.2 million to staff such a division in each district.
In a press release before the hearing, Joseph said, “One of my major concerns with the judiciary has been the backlog of cases. This has persisted over decades in the Territory.” She added, “I look forward to reports from Administrator deChabert Petersen on the status of the caseloads, the backlog of cases within the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands, and what the court is doing or requires to address the backlog of cases.”
According to Petersen’s testimony, as of last September, the Superior Court had a total pending caseload of 11,666 cases.
“With the exception of the impact of natural disasters and the pandemic on the operations of the branch, judicial vacancies are perhaps the greatest contributing factor to case backlogs,” she said.
As background, she noted, “For fiscal year 2024, excluding applications for marriage licenses, 11,902 matters were filed in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, while 10,923 matters were disposed of for an annual clearance rate of 92 percent.”
Attached to her written testimony was a proposed bill that could help stop backlogs in cases when a judge’s term expires. It would allow a judge to serve until a replacement is approved.
Sen. Milton Potter asked if such a measure could leave judges with expired terms in office for lengthy periods. Petersen said that with everything one does, one takes risks.
Sen. Novelle Francis Jr. said he has a bill ready to do what the Judiciary proposes.
Senators also raised concerns about how long it was taking for the e-Citation program to be up and working. Gittens said the territory has been working on it for two years. Petersen said, “We have done our part,” and it was up to the police department to do its part.
Tamara Charles, clerk of the Superior Court, said the hope was to have the program running this summer.
Sen. Angel Bolques asked about cybersecurity in the judicial branch. Petersen said, “It is huge. We test. It is expensive.”
Sen. Avery Williams asked about any austerity measures the judicial branch was taking. Petersen said the branch had cut out overtime pay except for extraordinary, approved incidents. Workers now receive compensatory time for the overtime they work.
In sort of a summary of her testimony, Petersen said, “Our clearance rates are generally good, but to effectively resolve backlogs, we require additional staffing and funding. Specifically, we are evaluating our data to determine the need and allocation of specialized positions such as dedicated docket clerks and case managers, which have been implemented in other jurisdictions as a best practice.”
She said that, though she had 60 vacancies, the judicial branch would only ask for 20 of them to be filled in the next budget.
Sens. Hubert Frederick, Avery Lewis, Marvin Blyden, Angel Bolques Jr., Ray Fonseca, Alma Francis Heyliger, Novelle Francis Jr., Kenneth Gittens, Carla Joseph, and Milton Potter attended the hearing.
