Cole County circuit court earns another O'Toole award

For the 10th time since 1998, when the first award was presented - and for the seventh year in a row - Cole County's circuit court has earned the state Supreme Court's "Daniel O'Toole" award for "efficiently managing and processing" its caseload.

The high court noted Missouri's case-processing time standards became effective in 1997, and serve as guidelines for the time it should take to handle various kinds of cases.

For example, half of all civil cases should be disposed within 12 months after they've been filed, and 90 percent of those civil cases should be disposed within 18 months. The guidelines recognize some cases are ....