Since Judge Courtney Wachal was appointed to Kansas City's Municipal Court in 2015, she'd been on the lookout for ways to make the court work better for its users. She and her colleagues were particularly motivated to help people who had missed court engage with their “walk-in” docket to resolve their warrants, and ultimately their cases, as opposed to avoiding the court due to their open warrant status.
When Judge Wachal heard ideas42 present at a National Center for State Courts (NCSC) conference in 2023 on behaviorally informed strategies to boost court appearances, she didn’t waste time incorporating the practices into her court.
“I made a list of new practices that I wanted to implement, and we started making those changes to our walk-in docket in real time,” Wachal explains. “My public relations colleague, Benita Jones, was with me and had her laptop, and she changed the language on our website right then.” ideas42 explained that fear of arrest kept people who had missed court from coming back. To address that barrier, ideas42 was unequivocal in suggesting that courts assure people they would not be arrested when voluntarily showing up to clear an appearance warrant. Judge Wachal and Jones immediately added clear language on the court’s website: “At the general walk-in dockets you may: Ask the judge to cancel your warrants. The decision is up to the judge, but you WILL NOT be arrested on those warrants…” to help quell fears.
When Judge Wachal explained the change to her team, she used research that ideas42 had shared.
Subsequently, Judge Wachal expanded the court’s walk-in docket schedule, and brought in a legal aid attorney to help people with additional legal issues resolve many of their cases on the spot. But perhaps the most innovative change was introducing a Calendly function to the court’s website, which permits users to select their own hearing date and time. At the conference, ideas42 promoted the practice of permitting court users to select their own court date, yet this is still unique among court systems. Traditionally, courts assign people a date and time to come to court; if they are unable to make it, they may receive a warrant for their arrest. Expanding the walk-in docket schedule and introducing Calendly have increased the number of people showing up to court.
During the first three months of 2024, Judge Wachal’s court had a 50% increase in walk-ins compared to the three-month average in 2023.
While the volume has increased, the approach has streamlined work for her team: since they have a sense of who is coming to court, court staff now come better prepared to address (and resolve) those cases.
The simplest change Judge Wachal has implemented? She uses her introductory remarks to assuage the fear she knows many people feel when coming to court for a missed appearance. “I speak to people differently when I address the court. I thank them for coming in to take care of their warrants. I tell them that the court respects their time and we commit to trying to get through the docket as quickly as possible. I also encourage people to come up and ask questions.
“You only have to do this once to recognize that it’s meaningful,” she said. “People feel respected. They’re less frustrated and more patient."
“You only have to do this once to recognize that it’s meaningful."
Cases are resolved more quickly, and the experience is improved for her team and the population they are serving. “The promise of not being arrested also has drastically reduced docket tension,” she added. “People still show some hesitancy coming forward, but it is much less than when they would actually see people with warrants being taken into custody.” Whereas presiding over the walk-in docket had previously been unpleasant, Judge Wachal has come to enjoy it precisely for the positive engagement with community members.
Judge Wachal has implemented all of the changes on her list except one: to start a daycare for court users so that parents and caregivers will have one less barrier to make it to court. She has not lost sight of this idea, and she’s identified like-minded colleagues to help make it a reality. Her impressive track record makes this a good bet.
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