The 13th Judicial Circuit was recently recognized by the Supreme Court of Missouri for its timely processing of cases.
At a semi-annual meeting of Missouri's presiding judges, the 13th Judicial Circuit was presented with the Daniel J. O'Toole Award for "managing and processing its cases during fiscal 2022," a release states.
The 13th Judicial Circuit includes both Callaway County and Boone County.
The O'Toole Award recognizes a circuit courts' excellence in service and timely delivery of justice, a release states.
The award is named after the first chair of Missouri's judiciary time standards monitoring committee.
To earn the O'Toole Award, a judicial circuit must have a clearance rate of one. This means the circuit closes "as many cases as were filed in a given year across the measured categories of cases, preventing a backlog of cases," a release states.
This criteria has been in effect since 2016.
The average clearance rate of the 13th Judicial Circuit for fiscal 2022 was 101.6 percent. The district closed slightly more cases in this time frame than were filed.
This is the first time the 13th district has qualified to receive the O'Toole Award.
Brouck Jacobs, 13th Judicial Circuit presiding judge, said they are very pleased to receive the award.
"By closing out more cases than are filed in a year, we avoid having a backlog. This enables our judges to give litigants hearing and trial time as soon as they are ready," Jacobs said in a release.