880.20 COURT COORDINATION
Refer:
- ORS 136.595 How Subpoena is Served; Proof of Service; Service on Law Enforcement Agency
- OAR of Civil Procedure, Rule 55D(2)(b)
- DIR 210.21 Leaves of Service
- DIR 210.30 Timekeeping and Overtime
- Court Related Overtime Report (Fiscal)
- Notification of Court Unavailability or Change in Duty Status Form (Court Coordinator)
POLICY (880.20)
The Bureau will cooperate with court procedures so as not to jeopardize or compromise cases.
PROCEDURE (880.20)
State statutes allow for service of criminal and civil case subpoenas to designated individuals in a police agency. The designated individual is the Court Coordinator. The Court Coordinator will accept only those subpoenas where there are ten days or more prior to the scheduled appearance date. If a subpoena is to be served with less than ten days notification, it will be personally served on the member (not to precinct desk clerks or command). Subpoenas served in either manner are legally served. Verification of appearance via PPDS/MDC still applies. Members may be held in contempt-of-court for non-appearance and/or be subject to discipline.
The Records Division (Records) is the only RU authorized to respond to subpoenas for police reports or PPDS records. Members receiving subpoenas for reports or PPDS records will immediately forward the subpoena to Records.
The Strategic Services Division (SSD) responds to subpoenas for Directives and other Bureau-wide policies and procedures.
The Court Coordinator’s office cannot accept service of civil summons or civil complaints. Personal service is required.
Subpoena: Criminal and Traffic Court (880.20)
a. Member Responsibilities:
1. Treat complaints, subpoenas, summons and court appearance notices for criminal and traffic court as official notice and documentation mandating court appearance. These notices will generally be communicated via PPDS/MDC. However, there will be times when a subpoena will be personally served (i.e., short notice defense subpoena). When such personal service takes place, members will notify the Court Coordinator within hours of it, via phone, fax, or inter-office mail.
2. Check his/her court schedule, through PPDS/MDC, every working day. Most of the time, members will not receive a hard copy subpoena. What is on the PPDS/MDC screen is the trial notification and schedule.
3. Verify, through PPDS/MDC, the necessity for the court appearance after 1600 hours the day prior to the scheduled appearance. If the status space is blank, it is the member’s responsibility to check again after 1800 hours and continue to check until the status is updated.
4. Notify the Court Coordinator within 72 hours of the member’s first notification of an impending change in shift, days off, assignment, home telephone number, off-duty disability, leave of absence status, etc.
5. Court unavailability requests:
a) Attend court while on paid disability, unless specifically prohibited by physician’s orders.
b) Court unavailability requests cannot always be granted. A judge may require a court appearance during a scheduled vacation or other leave, even if a court unavailability notice has been sent in. The DA is committed to try and accommodate these requests when properly informed and notified. Members should consider that the greater the number of members involved in a court case, the greater the complication for the court in scheduling cases without interfering with requests for court unavailability.
c) Notify the Court Coordinator as soon as possible of pending unavailability due to absence from work for any reason. Thirty-day advance notice is required. Lesser notification time reduces the chance of receiving a set over. Members must request unavailability even if there is a chance the leave or vacation will be canceled or not needed. Verify the unavailability has been entered into PPDS after the fifth day of the Court Coordinator’s notification. If it has not been entered, contact the Court Coordinator. If unavailability is due to illness, notify the Court Coordinator when available again.
d) Short notice of unavailability for court, 30 days or less, requires the member to:
1) Notify the Court Coordinator by phone. The Court Coordinator will document the request in PPDS.
2) Call each subpoena clerk (number under Court Schedule in PPDS) who has sent a subpoena for the time period of unavailability and ask for the set over. The set over is not automatic and approval must be received from the Deputy District Attorney.
6. Notify the Court Coordinator as soon as possible of pending unavailability.
a) Illness: Notify the Court Coordinator as soon as possible. After regular business hours, leave a message on the Court Coordinator’s voice mail with name, DPSST number and anticipated date of return.
7. Traffic Court: The Court Coordinator will process Traffic Court set over requests. To request a set over, notify the Court Coordinator by phone. The request must include the reason for the set over request and must be received at the Court Coordinator a minimum of 14 days in advance of the trial date or a set over will not be accepted and no request will be made. Most Traffic Court cases are subpoenaed as far as three months before the trial date. The earlier the set over request is made the greater the likelihood it will be granted. If the traffic court case has been set over once before, the judge has to grant the set over request the day of the trial. The Court Coordinator will document the set over request in PPDS.
8. Overtime Report.
a) Complete a Court Related Overtime Report for all court-related overtime. A separate overtime report is required for each day of court. This includes time stamping the arrival and departure times at the Multnomah County Court House. If for some reason this is not done, an inter-office memorandum must be submitted, along with the overtime report, explaining the circumstances for not doing so. At court facilities without time stamp machines, members will sign in and out of the facility sign-up log, writing the times on the report with an explanation of why not stamped.
b) Submit the overtime report(s) in the manner outlined in DIR 210.30, Timekeeping Procedure. b. Supervisor Responsibilities:
1. Immediately notify the Court Coordinator’s office if any of the following circumstances occur to a member:
a) Becomes disabled on the job.
b) Takes an emergency leave.
c) Placed on administrative leave (i.e., traumatic incidents, shootings, etc.).
2. Forward the unavailability notice and, when appropriate, accompanying documents (i.e., military orders, disability orders, parental leave documents, etc.) to the Court Coordinator’s office.
3. Sign the court overtime report and forward to Fiscal Services (Fiscal) for verification.
c. RU Manager Responsibilities:
1. Upon receipt of a No-show Notice for court, determine the reason for the non-compliance and take appropriate action.
Civil Subpoenas (880.20)
Member Responsibilities:
a. Treat civil subpoenas as official notice or documentation mandating court appearance.
b. Civil subpoenas served via PPDS/MDC are to be treated as all other PPDS court notifications.
c. Members who receive personally served work related civil subpoenas will:
1. Within 24 hours of receipt of the civil subpoena, attach a memorandum listing date, time and manner of service and forward a copy to the Court Coordinator.
2. Personally advise the issuing court or attorney if unable to attend court on the indicated date.
3. If three or less days to the scheduled court date, contact the Court Coordinator as soon as possible via phone.
4. Forward a copy of the civil subpoena with the overtime report to Fiscal for verification.
d. If a member receives a witness fee or mileage allowance for a court appearance related to the performance of law enforcement duties, the fee will be forwarded to Fiscal.
e. Members who receive a subpoena for police reports or PPDS records will, in addition to the requirements above, forward a copy to Records. Records is the only RU authorized to respond to subpoenas for police reports or PPDS records.