Yuma Judge Gould up for possible appointment to state justice board

Yuma County Superior Court Judge Andrew Gould will have a role in improving the performance of courts nationwide if he is appointed by President Bush to the board of directors of the State Justice Institute.
 
Gould, the presiding judge of the county's Superior Courts, is one of three judges whose names have been sent to the president for possible appointment to a vacant seat on the 11-member board.
 
Established by federal law in 1984, the institute is a nonprofit corporation that awards grants to improve the quality of justice in state courts, to improve coordination between state and federal courts, and to promote solutions to common issues faced by all courts. Presidential appointments of directors are subject to approval by the U.S. Senate.
 
Gould, contacted by The Sun Tuesday,  said he was "very honored" by the nomination and "excited about the possibilities" of serving on the board.
 
"Sometimes cases are slow and courts are very slow and sometimes they are not efficient," he said. "So to be on the cutting edge of court performance in the United States is exciting and a great opportunity."
 
One of his goals as a member would be to promote a system of standardized measurement of the performance of the nation's court system, he said.
 
"I would want to make court performance measures standardized for all courts in the United States. (For example) Is the public satisfied with how the court serves them? Does the public have a positive view of the courts? Do the courts process cases in a timely manner so that citizens don't have to wait an inordinate time for their day in court?"
  
The Yuma courts previously received a grant from the State Justice Institute to fund CourTools, a court performance measurement system initiated by Gould. Gould also recently attended a roundtable discussion sponsored by the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg, Va., to establish a model court performance framework.
 
Gould's office was notified of his nomination this week by the Conference of Chief Justices, a panel made up of state Supreme Court justices from each of the 50 states. Also nominated for the seat on the State Justice Institute board were Judge Gayle Nachtigal of Hillsboro, Ore., and  Judge Elizabeth Keever of Fayetteville, N.C.
 
Gould said he may not not know for a few more months whether he is selected by the president.
 
Gould has been a Superior Court judge in Yuma County since 2001 and presiding judge of the courts since 2006. He has also been a judge pro tempore for the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division 1, for four years.
 
Gould, who received his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1990, began his legal career practicing in the field of civil litigation for four years. He then became a criminal prosecutor for Maricopa and Yuma counties. He was chief civil deputy for the Yuma County Attorney’s Office from 1999 to 2001.