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Goals

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Goals of the Judges of the Circuit Court of the City of Roanoke

To provide the forum, personnel, and facilities for fair and efficient administration of justice.

To efficiently, expeditiously and justly adjudicate civil disputes.

To efficiently, expeditiously and justly adjudicate criminal cases and, in sentencing and disposition of those cases, to proceed in a manner that appropriately strikes the proper balance between the needs and concerns of society and the needs and concerns of the individual offender.

To provide courteous, sensitive, and effective services to the public, taking special note of the needs and concerns of jurors and witnesses and of victims of crimes, in accordance with Article I, §8A of the Constitution of Virginia; to make court contact as positive and unobtrusive as reasonably possible.

To cooperate with the bar in assuring that lawyers can effectively and efficiently present their clients' claims and search public records.

To provide adequate in-service training of personnel, including continuing education for judges, to maintain up-to-date print and on-line legal libraries, to help assure the court's users that decisions were made by judges who know and consider the latest changes in the law and legal techniques and procedures; concomitantly, to participate actively in providing continuing education to members of the bar and to judges.

In cooperation with the Sheriff and Clerk, to do everything feasible to assure that the courthouse and the Clerk's office are run securely, safely, efficiently, honestly, and fairly.

To continue to assure that litigants and their lawyers are, in all appropriate cases, fully informed about alternative modes of dispute resolution.

To continue to foster regional cooperation in court cases and community services, and work with elected and appointed officials of all governments in the Roanoke Valley to extend such cooperative efforts in all areas in which judges appropriately can be involved.

To maintain knowledge of technological advancements, and, as rapidly as feasible, incorporate in the operation of our court and courthouse, new or modified technology that will enable the circuit court better to serve its consumers--those who come before the court.

To cooperate with constitutional officers and City government to make the operation of the courts of this City, and the City's courthouse, as appropriate, efficient, and economical as possible.