CHAPTER II-THE COURT OF APPEALS THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF APPELLATE COURTS.. 441 CHAPTER V-COURTS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE Factors in the Criminal Court System. The Grand Jury Successful Criminal Court Reform. CIVIL JUSTICE Justices' Courts The County Court. The Circuit Court.. Page 479 479 479 480 481 482 482 483 483 484 487 NEED FOR UNIFICATION. CHAPTER VI-THE BAR... IMPORTANCE OF THE BAR IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM.. 487 PREPARATION FOR THE BAR.... THE DOUBLE SYSTEM OF PROSECUTORS IN KENTUCKY 500 OTHER FAULTS IN THE PRESENT SYSTEM.. THE FEE SYSTEM... THE BASIS OF AN IMPROVED SYSTEM. A Plan for Unification Proposed.. Removal of County Attorneys.. CHAPTER VIII-JUDICIAL PROCEDURE. MEASURES TO SIMPLIFY CIVIL PROCEDURE. Declaratory Judgments Commercial Arbitration RESTORATION OF THE RULE-MAKING POWER TO THE COURTS Objections to Legislated Procedure. The Two Systems in Actual Practice. NEEDED REFORMS IN CRIMINAL PROCEDURE. The Grand Jury.. The Petit Jury Witness Fees 502 503 504 505_ 505 507 507 509 510 511 512 514 516 517 . 519 519 520 522 522 523 CHAPTER IX-UNIFICATION OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM.. The Need for Records and Data. Futile Past Efforts to Improve Administrative Efficiency.. 524 COSTS AND SAVINGS UNDER JUDICIAL COUNCIL PLAN 531 CHAPTER X-SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS. APPENDIX A-DRAFT OF MODEL BILL RELATING TO JUDI- 538 The Judiciary of Kentucky CHAPTER I GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM In the United States the administration of justice is far more a state than a national function. Comparatively little jurisdiction is conferred upon the United States courts. Every state has set up its own system to administer justice under its own body of laws. At the time when state systems were being established, conditions of living and doing business, in all of the newer states, at least, were similar, and so a fairly uniform system is found in all the states from the Alleghenies to the Pacific. These states were mainly agricultural, having a small population scattered over a large area, and the judicial machine was designed to fit the prevailing conditions. Three main needs were met by the typical arrangement of courts:* 1. A court of minor jurisdiction within easy reach of every citizen and available at all times. For the enforcement of criminal law these local courts must be at all times accessible; even for small civil actions it was important that they should be reached without long travel because undue expense would defeat justice. To supply this need the justice of the peace courts were established. 2. A court of general trial jurisdiction for every county so that no citizen would be required to travel beyond the confines of his county to defend his rights. Since the average county could not afford more than a few weeks' business each year for such a court, the counties were grouped together to form a circuit, with a common judge. 3. An appellate court to make the law uniform throughout the state and to correct the mistakes of the trial courts. *Roscoe Pound: The Organization of Courts. Proc. Minn. State Bar Ass'n, 1914; Am. Jud. Soc. Bul. VI. In most states also the administration of decedents' estates is done with the county as the unit and a special court exists for this purpose, known variously as the Surrogate's Court, Probate Court, or County Court. Sometimes this special court exercises also general civil and criminal jurisdiction to a limited extent. Various other courts have been created, especially in cities, and usually in response to the need for increasing the capacity for work, or to relieve some of the older courts. In some states the original simple system has become extremely complex. The need for special city courts is met in the Kentucky Constitution and statutes so that no town of 250 inhabitants or more need be without its special localized court. In the larger cities this municipal court is given somewhat increased powers but nowhere is it to be considered a real infringement upon the symmetry of the original pattern. It is mainly the court of a city magistrate, or justice, in the larger places holding court in continuous sessions and so always available. The Minor Courts: In this State there are from three to eight magistrates or justices in every county, each elected in a specially designated district to serve for four years and to be paid by fees. Their jurisdiction is countywide and extends in civil cases to those involving $100 and in criminal cases to those in which a maximum punishment is not greater than 50 days' imprisonment or $100 fine. In cities of the first three classes the Police Court has no civil jurisdiction, but in the fourth and fifth classes, and in towns exceeding 250 persons in the sixth class, the Police Court has civil jurisdiction corresponding to that of the Justice of the Peace. It has jurisdiction over municipal ordinance cases which is withheld from Justices. The work of these Justices consists mainly in: 1. The trial of civil cases with or without a jury. 2. Conducting a preliminary examination to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that an accused |