Explanation / Request for Feedback on Examiner Report Format

To Judges, Attorneys and Examiners:

The attached examiner report is in a different format from what you are accustomed to seeing. The Rule 20.01 report format incorporated in this report is part of an initiative undertaken by the Psych Services Advisory Committee to develop more uniform and consistent examiner reports. The examiner appointed to this case has agreed to pilot this report format and has used the pilot template to draft his/her report.

The Psych Services Advisory Committee is an advisory committee that reports to the State Court Administrator. The committee was charged with developing standard examiner report forms based on a recommendation made to the Judicial Council in the formative stages of the Psych Services Program. The Psych Services Advisory Committee decided the best approach was to create examiner report templates to accomplish the following:

1.Organize examiner information in a consistent order of uniform headings;

2.Prompt examiners to include relevant information in answer to standard case type specific questions (e.g., history, examination processes and results, and the relevant legal standard); and

3.Accommodate variations in examiners’ perspectives and in case processing by including expandable free-form text boxes to explain and expound on answers to standardized questions.

The purpose of piloting these reports is to collect feedback from those who work with examiner reports before they are released for general use. Therefore, if you answer a question in the negative, please let us know what to do to improve the format. Thank you for your assistance in this endeavor.

Please return completed feedback sheets to:

Mail:Heidi Barba

Psych Services Program Coordinator

State Court Administrator’s Office

25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

St. Paul, Minnesota 55155

Email:

FAX:651-268-1707

Request for Feedback on Examiner Report Format

  1. Does the Rule 20.01 report format used in this case include all the necessary information?

____ Yes ____ No Please describe what is missing:

  1. Is the information organized so that it flows and makes sense?

____ Yes____ No Please provide suggestions for how to reorganize the format:

  1. Do the category headings make it easier to find specific information within the Rule 20.01 report? e.g. To help examiners, attorneys and judges identify areas of agreement and disagreement between first and second examiner reportsor to locate information to include in proposed orders or court orders?

____ Yes____ No Please recommend additional and/or alternate category headings:

  1. Does the format of this report accommodate your current practice of processing Rule 20.01 cases?

____ Yes____ No Please specify how the format could be modified to encompass your current practice:

  1. Do you have any other suggestions not already covered for how to improve the Rule 20.01 report format?

Please return completed feedback sheets to:

Mail:Heidi BarbaEmail:

Psych Services Program Coordinator

State Court Administrator’s Office FAX:651-268-1707

25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

St. Paul, Minnesota 55155

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