By Alan Sorensen
About 55 more cases were filed into the Hill County Clerk of Court's Office than were resolved in 2000. The clerk of court, located on the second floor of the Hill County Courthouse, handles all of the cases that go through 12th Judicial District and Juvenile Court in the county.
The 12th Judicial District Court also covers Liberty and Chouteau counties. The cases brought in those counties are handled by those counties' clerks of court.
A total of 685 cases were active in Hill County in 2000, some of which were carried over from last year and beyond. Of those cases active in 2000, 180 were criminal cases and 119 of those were new.
The court disposed of a total of 630 cases in 2000; 164 of those were criminal cases.
"We deal with quite a variety of different kinds of cases," Clerk of Court Dena Tippets said. "What I find, too, from the general public is that they are surprised by the types of things we're involved with in this office and all the work we do keeping on top of those files so justice doesn't bog down."
Tippets and her two deputies, Kathie Vigliotti and Ann Lamberton, deal with dozens of files every day and track even more files to make sure that nothing gets lost in the system.
"We take quite a lot of effort in cooperation with (District Court) Judge (John) Warner, to keep on top of all these files," Tippets said. "We make sure that cases do get resolved.
"We call lawyers to make sure things don't bog down. We ask them what's going on if we haven't heard from them on a case in a while. If we don't get a response, we take it to the judge."
Tippets said that lawyers nearly always respond quickly when they hear from the judge.
The caseload breakdown for actions filed in district court in 2000 was:
Probate - 68 cases;
Guardianship/conservatorship - 8;
Civil - 115;
Domestic, including divorces - 116;
Paternity - 5;
Criminal - 180;
Juvenile - 72;
Youth in need of care - 31;
Adoptions - 16;
Incompetency - 11;
Developmentally disabled - 2;
Abstract judgments (includes taxes owed to the state of Montana and child support orders issued by Child Support Enforcement Division) - 62.
The cases disposed of in 2000 in each category were:
Probate - 60 cases;
Guardianship/conservatorship - 8;
Civil - 113;
Domestic, including divorces - 101;
Paternity - 3;
Criminal - 164;
Juvenile - 63;
Youth in need of care - 26;
Adoptions - 13;
Incompetency - 16;
Developmentally disabled - 2;
Abstract judgments - 62.
During 2000, the clerk of court's office also issued 106 marriage licenses, handled 22 investigative subpoenas and hosted 14 jury trials.
