Published: May 08, 2008 06:19 pm            

Family Court now in session

ASHEBORO — Chief District Court Judge William M. Neely presided over opening ceremonies last Wednesday of the new Judicial District 19B Family Court as members of the courthouse staff, local lawyers and law enforcement officers dropped by for a reception in Courtroom 3A of the Randolph County Courthouse.

May 1 was the first official family court session.

Neely said the Family Court program came about as a result of a study in the 1990s by the Bell Commission. That study found concerns for a lack of timeliness in moving domestic and juvenile cases through the state's district court system.

"We were not doing a very good job," Neely admitted. He said non-Family Court districts process those cases in an average of 312 days versus 121 days in Family Court.

With the opening of Family Court in District 19-B and 3A (Pitt County), the number of Family Courts in North Carolina has grown to 13, serving 22 counties and approximately 45 percent of the state's population. Neely said 12 more judicial districts are awaiting implementation of family courts.

District 19-B encompasses Randolph, Montgomery and Moore counties, with cases being heard in Troy and Carthage as well as Asheboro. Judges include Neely, Michael A. Sabiston, Jayrene R. Maness, Lee W. Gavin, Scott C. Etheridge, James P. Hill Jr. and Don W. Creed Jr. The staff includes Nancy M. Butler, administrator, and case coordinators Sherry D. Allred, De Maca Adams and Amanda Jones.

Family Court will manage domestic and juvenile cases with the mission of using a combination of family, court and community resources to resolve issues. Family Court methods are less adversarial, more accessible, timely and efficient, according to a release by District 19-B Family Court.

Neely said Family Court will allow "a higher level of staffing to take cases and move them" at a pace expected to be "at least twice as fast as District Court." He said one judge will be assigned to each case and follow it through to resolution. The current system may see a case go before a number of judges, each of whom is unfamiliar with the issues.

Neely said Family Court will "serve people better and be easier for the attorneys." Those involved in domestic matters will be encouraged to resolve disputes rather than seeking judgments from the court.

"The development of Family Court within the District Court has been one of the most heartening improvements in the court system since I came on the bench in 1980," Neely said. "With the resources of Family Court we will be better able to provide court services in a timely and responsive fashion in domestic cases."

        

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