Chancery Court/Clerk and Master Strategic Plan

Mission Statement

The Clerk and Master’s office of Montgomery County, Tennessee serves the Chancellor, Attorneys and Montgomery County citizens by providing high quality, courteous, and responsive court services.

Issue Statements

• The Montgomery County population is becoming more ethnically diverse, challenging the Courts to provide needed translation and other support services to guarantee that due process rights are protected.
• Constantly evolving laws, higher court decisions, rules and regulations (e.g., the recent Supreme Court decision in Blakely) will continue to cause significant and unanticipated increases in workload associated with initiating and trying cases.
• An increasing percentage of litigants who want to represent themselves (instead of paying for a lawyer) increases the time required to process and dispose of court cases, increases the likelihood of appeals based on inadequate criminal defense, and reduces the timeliness and quality of court services available to other litigants.

Program Structure

• Records and docketing
• Judicial Functions
• Accounting and Investments

Records and Docketing Program

Purpose Statement

The purpose of the Records and Docketing Program is to provide filing, recording, and scheduling services to attorneys and litigants so they can have their legal requests met in an efficient and timely manner.

Performance Measures

Results

• Number of final Master’s hearings scheduled within three months.(Goal 3)
• Number of requests from non-English speaking litigants (Goal 2)
• Number of requests from prose speaking litigants (Goal 1)

Outputs

• Written plan published for non-English speaking litigants (Goal 2)
• Written guidelines for pro-se litigants published (Goal 1)

Demands

• Number of non-English speaking litigants requesting services (Goal 2)
• Number of pro-se litigants requesting services (Goal 1)

Efficiencies

• Percent of Master’s hearings scheduled within three months (Goal 3)
• Plan written and published for non-English speaking litigants to receive effective services (Goal 2)
• Guidelines written for pro-se litigants (Goal 1)

Judicial Functions Program

Purpose Statement

The purpose of the Judicial Functions Program is to provide hearings, court sales and review services to the Chancellor, attorneys and litigants so they can have their legal issues resolved in a timely manner.

Performance Measures

Results

• Number of Master’s decisions that are provided within one month of hearing (Goal 3)
• Number of probate openings that are provided within three days of filing (Goal 4)
• Number of inquiries received via the internet (Goal 5)

Outputs

• Number of decisions provided (Goal 3)
• Number of probates opened (Goal 4)
• Number of judicial actions taken (Goal 3)
• Expanded website running (Goal 5)

Demands

• Number of orders appointing Special Master received (Goal 3)
• Number of probates filed (Goal 4)
• Number of judicial actions required (Goal 3,4)

Efficiencies

• Percent of Master’s decisions provided within one month of hearing (Goal 3)
• Percent of probate openings that are provided within three days of filing (Goal 3)
• Website expanded and customers able to gather information and direct questions to C&M via the internet (Goal 5)