The increased demands of a high-profile case will often require the court to work with external stakeholders to handle the specifics of the case, maintain control of decorum, and finance additional resources. It is prudent that the court consider the following:
Identify all agencies intersecting the Courts regarding logistical issues and establish direct lines of communication with all community partners who would be affected by a high-profile case. Partners will typically include local law enforcement (sheriff’s office and/or state or local police departments), county officials, town/city administrators, the justice center facilities director, agencies or tenants located in the courthouse/courthouse complex, and grounds/facility director. Depending upon your situation a health inspector, fire official, and the mayor might also be included.
In terrorism cases it might be beneficial to begin a dialogue with the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and other relevant federal agencies due to the increase in security demands.
Serve as the liaison to state AOC, local government, local leadership (bar, community leaders, etc.) to address issues and resources regarding specific court support needs.
Schedule and conduct an inter-agency logistical planning meeting as soon as possible if responding to a pending case and prior to each critical stage of the proceedings.
Plan for how the court will alert external stakeholders to upcoming case events and plan for enough time to distribute drafts of any logistical memos with time for corrections, as this will serve as their link to the media.
