Problem-Solving Courts Committee

Purpose | Principles | Documents | Members | Staff Contacts

Purpose

To encourage the broad integration of the problem-solving philosophy into the administration of justice to improve court processes and outcomes while preserving the rule of law.

To encourage judges to take a proactive role, using a non-adversarial, coordinated strategy to problem-solving while creating an environment where participants are encouraged to take responsibility for change.

Statement of Principles

• The committee’s mission is dedicated to assisting courts in developing new techniques to improve outcomes. Our purpose is to provide a support system for all problem-solving courts, both criminal and civil, in which the following principles are fulfilled:
• To encourage the broad integration of problem-solving philosophies and new initiatives into the administration of justice in Indiana to improve court processes and outcomes while preserving the rule of law.
• To identify ways to incorporate problem-solving theories into mainstream courts.
• To encourage judges to take a proactive role, on and off the bench, using a team-based non-adversarial approach to address the underlying problems of defendants, encouraging them to make positive changes in their lives while holding them accountable for their decisions.
• To utilize the authority of the bench to positively affect a participant’s conduct.
• To assist participants in developing skills that will allow them to live within community standards and be personally successful.
• To identify ways the participant can develop further responsibility and competency through education, counseling, employment, and other programs available in the community.
• To promote and encourage problem-solving techniques to gain favorable outcomes within the court system.
• To promote within each court the support system to collect and evaluate data to show successes.
• To develop a catalog of existing and potential problem-solving initiatives.

Documents

Minutes

2025

2024

2022