Two St. Louis area court administrators recently returned from a two-week stint advising court workers in Kosovo how to handle some of the day-to-day issues that arise when it comes to running a court system. Jim Woodward, court clerk for the U.S. District Court in St. Louis, and Helen Haskins, court administrator for the St. Louis Circuit Court, were among several volunteers in the National Center for State Courts' Rule of Law project in Kosovo. They served in the model courts program, advising their counterparts about such things as case management and an administrator's role in the courts, as well as about how to keep the courts running during courthouse renovation.

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Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry wants the public to know what judges do. So as she begins her seven-year term as chief judge of the St. Louis-based federal court, she says she wants to focus on the court's outreach efforts. Perry is the third consecutive woman to serve as chief judge of the District Court in St. Louis. Judge Carol E. Jackson, whom Perry follows, became chief in 2002 after Judge Jean C. Hamilton completed her seven-year term.

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Law enforcement officers with bomb-sniffing dogs spent just an hour Thursday morning to determine no bomb had been planted in the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse. Jim Woodward, clerk of the U.S. District Court, said the threat against the U.S. ...

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After nearly 16 years in prison, Frank Harvey Jr. is making up for lost time and rebuilding relationships with his family and his friends. Convicted of a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram of crack cocaine, Harvey began serving what was to have been a 17½-year sentence in 1993. He was released in April 2008 after U.S. District Judge Donald Stohr, of the Eastern District of Missouri, reduced Harvey's sentence to 14 years. Harvey had already served 15 years and eight months, so he was credited for time served and released immediately.

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Snow might delay justice in St. Louis area courtrooms today, but it won’t deny justice. The National Weather Service forecast 3 to 5 inches of snow mixed with sleet by this morning with the possibility of another 2 inches falling ...

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