Georgia Probate Courts: MINUTES
Meeting of SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA COMMITTEE ON COURT TECHNOLOGY
May 14, 2004
PROBATE COURTS
15. Judge William Self distributed a report on technology in the probate courts to the Committee. See Appendix C attached. He welcomed the Committee to the field of totally local funding and predicted this would be the main stumbling block to implementation in the very lowest levels of court. He recommended involvement with Association County Commissioners of Georgia and the Georgia Municipal Association, and assistance from DMVS, to encourage local governments to set aside funds for court technology in their budgets.
16. Judge Self said he sent a technology survey to probate courts but got only 58 responses. Including responses to an earlier AOC survey brought the total to 105.
17. Probate courts have jurisdiction over probate of wills, administration of estates minor and adult guardianships. They administer oaths of office and issue marriage licenses. 23 of 159 probate court judges also serve as chief magistrate. In 88 counties where there’s no state court, they handle traffic matters. Others serve as elections supervisors and as custodians of vital records. Probate court judges in Georgia are mostly non-lawyers; 13 are attorneys. In counties with populations over 96,000, probate judges (unless “grandfathered”) are required to be attorneys and parties to a civil case in those courts may request a jury trial. 18. Based on the 105 responses to the survey, there is an average of three employees per probate court; however the range runs from one to 32 (in Fulton County). Thirty percent of probate courts have one judge and at most one full-time employee. Twelve probate courts with only one employee also have at least three additional areas of jurisdiction. The situation begs for technology to be utilized, but there’s a limited time to dedicate to learning technology. County commissioners are not willing to fund additional staff for probate judges because of budget considerations. Counties are not willing to fund training for probate court staff because it is not mandated.
19. Of the 105 judges responding, 15 (15%) have no case management software, and of those who do, half are not making good use of it because of a lack of training and time. 20. Probate courts that do use technology use it for word processing, database spreadsheets, calendaring, case and decision management applications. Some are beginning to scan images for access and storage. Judge Self said he is very concerned about the number of probate courts that are not accomplishing any archiving of records.
21. When you have smaller courts where the judge is a non-lawyer, the ability to do legal research, especially electronic research, is very important.
22. GCAC, AOC, county IT departments, and vendors provide IT support. Twelve percent of probate courts have Internet access only through private accounts of the judge because their counties will not provide it, purchasing off-the-shelf software and trying to make it usable in the courts.
24. Information requested from probate courts includes traffic and misdemeanor reports, election records, vital records (sometimes for genealogical research), caseload reports, civil case filings and dispositions (the courts are a long way from that).
26. Probate courts have no funding source. They depend on county commissions or grant applications. The Council of Probate Court Judges has added training for probate court clerks, but there has not been a lot of emphasis on training judges or clerks in technology.
27. Prof. Elliott asked whether training would be used if it were available online. Judge Self said it would be helpful, but a lot of courts don’t have full Internet access, only the GO network.
28. Judge Harris noted that the Council of Superior Court Judges devoted an entire conference to technology. Afterward, there was a decrease in the number of judges who said they didn’t need a computer, and the number trying to make use of theirs rose significantly.
Cordially,
Repeat info with some changes:
Another woman is being dehydrated and starved to death. For those who don't know background, story is at end of contacts.
Also, see this thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=1379016%2C591
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Here's the background for those who don't know:
To view ENTIRE article, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/a...RTICLE_ID=43688
Thursday, April 7, 2005
MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Granddaughter yanks grandma's feeding tube
81-year-old neither terminally ill, comatose, nor in vegetative state
Posted: April 7, 2005
7:33 p.m. Eastern
By Sarah Foster
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
In a situation recalling the recent death of Terri Schiavo in Florida, an 81-year-old widow, denied nourishment and fluids for nearly two weeks, is clinging to life in a hospice in LaGrange, Ga., while her immediate family fights desperately to save her life before she dies of starvation and dehydration.
Mae Magouirk was neither terminally ill, comatose nor in a "vegetative state," when Hospice-LaGrange accepted her as a patient about two weeks ago upon the request of her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, 36, an elementary school teacher.
Also upon Gaddy's request and without prior legal authority, since March 28 Hospice-LaGrange has denied Magouirk normal nourishment or fluids via a feeding tube through her nose or fluids via an IV. She has been kept sedated with morphine and ativan, a powerful tranquillizer.
Her nephew, Ken Mullinax, told WorldNetDaily that although Magouirk is given morphine and ativan, she has not received any medication to keep her eyes lubricated during her forced dehydration.
"They haven't given her anything like that for two weeks," said Mullinax. "She can't produce tears."
The dehydration is being done in defiance of Magouirk's specific wishes, which she set down in a "living will," and without agreement of her closest living next-of-kin, two siblings and a nephew: A. Byron McLeod, 64, of Anniston, Ga.; Ruth Mullinax, 74, of Birmingham, Ala.; and Ruth Mullinax's son, Ken Mullinax.
Magouirk's husband and only child, a son, are both deceased.
In her living will, Magouirk stated that fluids and nourishment were to be withheld only if she were either comatose or "vegetative," and she is neither. Nor is she terminally ill, which is generally a requirement for admission to a hospice.
Magouirk lives alone in LaGrange, though because of glaucoma she relied on her granddaughter, Beth Gaddy, to bring her food and do errands.
(Excerpt)