Guest column: Story about court didn't reflect overall picture

I read with interest the article that Ms. Priddy wrote for your Nov. 5 paper concerning the "confusion and disruption" in the courts during the Nov. 4 docket due to computer issues and the electronic docket.

I wish to point out that the article was only partially correct and did not come close to reflecting the true picture of the day's activities. Division III of the Circuit Court over which I preside, also at Jackson, where Judge Syler's court was scheduled, had a large docket of more than 120 cases. We realized about 30 minutes before the 9 a.m. docket that we would be forced to operate without our computers. At that time we formulated a plan to hold court as if we were operating close to normal. Through a lot of hard work from the Division III clerical staff and a lot of interaction and cooperation with the staff of the prosecuting attorney's office, we were able to start court on time and run the dockets on a near normal time frame for the entire day.

Those individuals who had cases on my docket were able to have their matters taken care of in a timely manner with little or no problems.

The staff of the circuit clerk's office and the prosecuting attorney's office should be commended on the way that they jumped into a bad situation, came up with an innovative solution and timely and professionally served the citizens of Cape Girardeau County and those persons with cases to be resolved.

My hat goes off to all of them. I just wish that your author would have taken the time to reflect that not all of the court's activities were paralyzed and a near normal docket was had in other areas of the court. A truer picture should have been presented to your readers.

Gary A. Kamp is the associate circuit judge for Division III of the Circuit Court of Cape Girardeau County.