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Chief Superior Court Judge Willie Lockett spoke to Albany Rotarians on Thursday about the innovations and challenges his court faces. 

Lockett says his case load is around 2,000 filings.  60 percent of those are civil and 40 percent are criminal, but Lockett says those numbers can be deceiving.  “Even though civil cases make up 60 percent of the total case load, they actually make up only about 5 percent of the actual work of the court, so what we have is 40 percent of the cases requiring 95 percent of the court’s time and attention,” said Lockett. 

Judge Lockett says he is working on an electronic bracelet initiative to get low risk criminals out of jail and under house arrest.  He says this will save taxpayers almost $40 per inmate, per day.