The Austin Municipal Court offers services via in person, phone, mail, email, online, in the community, in multiple locations, and during non-traditional hours to make it easier and more convenient for individuals to handle court business. This measure tracks the percentage of customers that utilize court services outside of normal business hours, defined as 8am-5pm Monday-Friday, and how many payments were made by methods other than in person. This measure helps determine how Court services are being used and enables the Court to allocate its resources to best meet the needs of the public.

Number and percentage of instances where people access court services other than in person and outside normal business hours (e.g. phone, mobile application, online, expanded hours)

Number and percentage of court cases that are adjudicated within case processing time standards.

This measure highlights to what extent DACC motivates individuals to handle their cases in a manner that is non-punitive and does not create a barrier for individuals in their future endeavors. DACC’s priority population is individuals experiencing homelessness and the program’s main goal is to permanently stabilize individuals experiencing homelessness.

Austin Municipal Court is dedicated to processing cases efficiently and in alignment with nationally established time standards to reduce delay and ensure timely justice. Cases are typically adjudicated within 30-180 days. If case processing time standards are consistently exceeded, the overall administration of justice may be compromised resulting in inequitable outcomes and the loss of public trust. AMC monitors the length of time it takes to process cases and makes necessary adjustments to ensure compliance with time standards..

The Downtown Austin Community Court (DACC) is dedicated to processing cases efficiently and in alignment with nationally established time standards to reduce delay and ensure timely justice, but cases related to individuals experiencing homelessness typically take longer than 180 days to adjudicate due to the case management activities associated with these cases. Case management activities include but are not limited to acquiring birth certificates, Social Security cards, accessing substance use, mental health and medical services and acquiring permanent housing. Cases related to non-homeless individuals are typically adjudicated within 30-180 days. DACC monitors the length of time it takes to process cases and makes necessary adjustments to ensure compliance with time standards.

The Downtown Austin Community Court (DACC) was established to address quality of life and public order offenses occurring in the downtown Austin area utilizing a restorative justice court model. DACC’s priority population consists of individuals experiencing homelessness and the program’s main goal is to permanently stabilize individuals experiencing homelessness. To effectively serve these individuals, DACC created an Intensive Case Management (ICM) Program, which uses a client-centered and housing-focused approach. The ICM Program focuses on rehabilitating and stabilizing individuals using an evidenced-based model of wraparound interventions to help them achieve long-term stability. Because individuals participating in case management are literally homeless, case managers must actively seek their clients in the community through outreach activities and often times work on behalf of the client via collateral engagement with other social service and housing providers. This measure highlights case management activities accomplished via outreach and collateral engagement.

The Downtown Austin Community Court (DACC) was established to address quality of life and public order offenses occurring in the downtown Austin area utilizing a restorative justice court model. DACC offers alternatives to fines and fees for defendants to handle their cases such as community service restitution and participation in rehabilitation services. Defendants who reside outside of a 40-mile radius from DACC are offered an opportunity to handle their case through correspondence action, meaning the entire judicial process can be handled through email or postal mail. Correspondence action eliminates an undue burden requiring a defendant to travel back to Austin to appear for their case and it allows for quicker access to court services of Austin residents by reducing the number of individuals required to appear for their case. Being above or below the stated target is dependent on the number of Class C Misdemeanors citations written by the Austin Police Department however DACC will continue to identify cases where correspondence action is appropriate and offer it as an adjudication process.