Greene County court clears more cases than filed

The 31st Judicial Circuit in Greene County last year cleared more cases than filed, a goal set by the Missouri Supreme Court.

Last year, the local court system disposed of 39,069 cases, above filings of 38,468 cases, according to a news release. Cases can be held from year to year for various reasons, including backlogs, which are a documented problem in the local circuit court.

“These cases covered all categories: criminal, civil, family, probate and those pending in our specialty courts such as drug court and DWI court,” said Tom Mountjoy, presiding judge of the 31st Judicial Circuit, in the release. “Although we still remain four judges short of our need based on the state’s current workload study, our judges endeavor to resolve disputes in a fair, efficient and timely manner.”

Since July 2014, Greene County has participated in the Supreme Court’s Clearance Rate of One pilot initiative. Starting this July, the project will become the standard for all Missouri courts, due, in part, to the success of the 31st Judicial Circuit, according to the release. The initiative is designed to hold courts responsible for managing their caseloads, we well as using clearance rates as a measurement tool.

Last month, the Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator reported the Greene County system beat state disposal expectations for domestic relations cases by four months and associate civil cases by six months for the year ended June 30, 2015.