The NACM CORE® Committee continues to focus on content delivery by enhancing the reach of the CORE® Champion program and ensuring content remains up-to-date. Review is well underway of “The CORE® in Practice: A Guide to Strengthen Court Professionals through Application, Use, and Implementation” and the “Public Relations” curriculum.

The Guide is a primer on the content of the CORE® and the multitude of ways it can be used to benefit courts through application and implementation.  Competent court professionals demonstrate the capacity to carry out required responsibilities in a manner consistent with effective performance.  The NACM CORE® assumes that the essence of court leadership and professionalism includes a dedication to lifelong learning and continuous self-development.  This Guide provides a tool to engage the CORE® in this effort through the development and strengthening of individuals and teams; organizational governance and growth; and improving business practices.

The Public Relations Curriculum is a core competency because one of the court leaders’ key roles is communication with a wide range of audiences to enhance the public’s understanding of the court process and the role of the courts in preserving the rule of law and protecting individual rights. Without the public’s understanding of the court and its processes, the public’s trust and confidence in the court can be but a distant goal and the primacy and authority of courts can be eroded. As such, court leaders must continually provide information to the public regarding the court’s functions and services. Court leaders must use multiple methods to regularly deliver information about the court to the public. Critical to these methods is the development of on-going relationships with the media so they are familiar with the court process and are in a position to regularly provide positive media coverage of the court, its operations and its key initiatives. Such communications should occur both routinely and during times of crisis. Whether these communications are addressing routine court matters or special crises, it is very important that the court speak with one voice. To be effective at providing public information, court leaders need to communicate what courts do to the wide range of audiences with which it needs to connect, using a variety of communication methods tailored to the nature of the message being conveyed and audience targeted. The court leader’s overall goal for these communications should focus on promoting the public’s understanding of the role of the court to preserve the rule of law, and its critical role in safeguarding the fundamental constitutional and legal rights of all individuals.

If you are interested in learning more, join the next monthly Committee meeting over Zoom, the Fourth Wednesday of each month at 3:00 pm ET.  Here is the Committee webpage with the Zoom link, past agenda and minutes, resources, and more.

Kelly Hutton, Dawn Palermo, and Brandon Kimura