Gen IC template

Request for new submission under the “Generic Clearance for Cognitive, Pilot and Field Studies for Bureau of Justice Statistics Data Collection Activities”

(OMB Control Number: 1121-0339)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Civil Justice Survey of State Courts (CJSSC) Feasibility Test

PURPOSE: To test the expansion of the BJS Civil Justice Survey of State Courts (CJSSC) to include expanded data elements and new types of civil cases besides the historically collected tort, contract, and real property cases (i.e., child support enforcement, civil involuntary commitments, civil protection orders, debt collection, domestic violence protection orders, evictions, landlord-tenant, and guardianships of vulnerable persons).

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: The respondents are state and county court administrators and state or county court data experts (e.g., Information Technology specialists).

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [X] Other: Feasibility Test

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Devon Adams

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Note: for any privacy related questions regarding your collection, please contact your component’s Senior Component Official for Privacy or the Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties.

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

If answering yes, you will also need to describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

In the provided table, list the following information in each row for the type or respondent for the collection and provide total figures at the bottom for the number of respondents, participation time, and burden.

• Category of respondent – Provide the type or category of individual who will respond to your collection from the following list:

  • Individuals or Household

  • Private Sector

  • State, Local, or Tribal Governments

  • Federal Government

• Number of Respondents – Estimate of the total number of respondents by type/category.

• Participation Time – Estimate of the total amount of time (in minutes) required for participation in a collection by type/category of respondents (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group).

• Burden – Estimate of the annual burden hours by type/category or respondents.

  • To determine this estimate, multiply the number of respondents by the participation time and divide that figure by 60.

Burden Table

Category of Respondent State and local governments	No. of Respondents	Participation Time to complete form (minutes)	Burden (hours)
Initial contact with courts to request participation and schedule interview	25	10	5
Phone interview with court administrator and data expert (up to 2 interviews)	50 (25x2)	60	50
Phone interview with limited jurisdiction court leader and/or data expert	Up to 20 counties/ 40 persons	60	20
Additional follow-up to courts to clarify data access or data codebook questions (up to 2)	50 (25x2)	30	25
Request data, complete paperwork, transfer data, and ask follow-up questions about data extract (potentially 2 contacts in two-tier court systems)	40(20*2)	1200	800
Totals	Up to 90 unique individuals		900

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $332,331 for Abt Associates portion of the work and an estimated $14,972 for 200 hours of the GS-15’s project manager, for a total of $347,303.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

The sample will not be representative because this is a feasibility test. The CJSSC sample will follow the National Pretrial Reporting Program, which includes a sample of the largest 200 U.S. counties (the largest 75 counties are included with certainty). The 25 respondents include 2 statewide data systems (New Hampshire and Michigan) and 23 counties. BJS selected New Hampshire and Michigan because the two states are already using civil court data to make business decisions for their courts. The 23 counties were selected from 3 tiers:

Tier 1: Largest 75 counties: 12 counties

Tier 2: Next largest 50 counties: 8 counties

Tier 3: Next largest 75 counties: 3 counties

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ X ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ X ] Other, Explain: Electronic data extracts from court case management systems

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts with the request.

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