About

The guidance provided in this website was provided by an Advisory Committee consisting of expert trial judges, court administrators, public information officers, court security experts, and others with extensive knowledge about high-profile case management.  The 1998 edition of Managing Notorious Trials provided the basic framework of information to which the Advisory Committee added insights about new issues in high-profile case management.  The website development has been greatly assisted by two CCPIO subcommittees that provided many examples of court orders, checklists, and policies for high-profile cases.

Conference of Court Public Information Officers (CCPIO)
Court Public Information Officers (PIOs) serve as liaisons between the judiciary and the public and can be found at all levels of the justice system, including the trial courts, appellate courts and administrative offices of the courts. Although duties can vary considerably among states and court jurisdictions, a Court PIO is generally responsible for media and public relations, community outreach, education, and publications. A Court PIO may also be involved in legislative and governmental affairs, internal communications, law related education, and supervisory management roles, such as overseeing a public information office. The CCPIO membership includes state, local and federal PIOs from all levels of courts and administrative offices in the United States and in several other countries.

National Center for State Courts (NCSC)
The National Center for State Courts is an independent, nonprofit court improvement organization founded at the urging of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren E. Burger.  He envisioned NCSC as a clearinghouse for research information and comparative data to support improvement in judicial administration in state courts. NCSC is the organization courts turn to for authoritative knowledge and information, because its efforts are directed by collaborative work with the Conference of Chief Justices, the Conference of State Court Administrators, and other associations of judicial leaders. All of NCSC's services — research, information services, education, consulting — are focused on helping courts plan, make decisions, and implement improvements that save time and money, while ensuring judicial administration that supports fair and impartial decision-making.

The National Judicial College (NJC)
For more than 50 years, The National Judicial College has remained the national leader in judicial education. The first to offer programs to judges nationwide, the NJC continues to work with the judiciary to improve productivity, challenge current perceptions of justice and inspire judges to achieve judicial excellence. The College serves as the one place where judges from across the nation and around the world can meet to improve the delivery of justice and advance the rule of law through a disciplined process of professional study and collegial dialogue.

State Justice Institute (SJI)
This website has been prepared with support from a State Justice Institute grant (Award No. SJI-16-N-001). The points of view and opinions offered in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Center for State Courts or the State Justice Institute.

Across the country courts use a variety of terms and titles to convey a specific role. To avoid confusion, the following terms have been used throughout this website with their expressed definition in mind. As applicable, please apply these terms to whatever roles and titles your court utilizes.

• High-Profile Case Team
  The group of court professionals with expertise in court management, media relations, and court security the trial judge commences.  This website describes the HPC team and their duties in detail.

• Trial Judge
  Is the person who has been assigned handle significant pretrial motions and try the case if necessary.  This person should also have the responsibility of managing non litigation aspects of the case and providing oversight of the high-profile case team.

• Court Management
  The role responsible for the oversight and coordination of routine trial court functions, minimizing disruptions to routine court operations, supervising trial support roles, and serving as the liaison to/with external stakeholders and resources including state Administrative Office of the Courts and local government officials. Depending on the court this role could be filled by the clerk of court, court administrator, court manager, or chief executive officer.

• Media Relations
  The role responsible for providing expertise to the trial judge, serving as the court's media representative, monitoring compliance with court orders related to media coverage, offering corrections to inaccurate media reports concerning trial procedures or operations, and monitoring cyberspace and social media for problems or issues potentially affecting the high-profile case. Depending on the court this could be a court public information officer (PIO,) state PIO, or someone within the court who has the expertise and authority to successfully serve as the courts representative to the media (examples: chief judge, trial judge, chief administrator, etc.)

• Court Security
  The role responsible for conducting the initial and ongoing threat assessment including threats delivered online or through social media, allocating adequate, cost-effective security resources to address identified threats, and coordinating with external security resources (local police, state police, private contractors.) Depending on the court this role could be filled by a bailiff or a member of local law enforcement.  However, the person selected should be respected by the various law enforcement agencies in the area.

• Information Technology (IT)
  The role responsible for assessing the security and adequacy of the court’s technology infrastructure including server capacity, maintaining the case management system, and media and public access to electronic documents. Depending on the court this role could be filled by an IT person that works for the trial court, a state level IT person or if IT is provided by the county, a county IT employee.

• Jury Management
  The role responsible for summoning and qualifying prospective jurors for grand or petit jury including providing estimates of the appropriate pool/panel size, assessing the risk of fair cross-section challenges, managing the distribution and collection of case-specific voir dire questionnaires, screening the jury panel for hardship, managing details related to jurors’ security and well-being including conditions of sequestration and provisions for anonymous juries. Depending on the court this role could be filled by the jury manager, jury commissioner, or jury administrator.

• Chief Judge
  The role responsible for assessing the court's capabilities and weaknesses to manage a high-profile case, assembling documentation on relevant statutes and rules, and identifying individuals with expertise to fulfill necessary high-profile case team roles. After a high-profile case is filed with the court, the chief judge is responsible for deciding who will preside over the case and turning over all necessary material to the trial judge. Depending on the court this role could be filled by the chief judge, president judge, administrative judge, or presiding judge.