If you've had a parking ticket go to court, if that crazy night out resulted in some charges and landed you before a judge, if you're going through a painful divorce - basically anything that touches a courtroom, Karlene Behringer has likely done something to help you.

"I'm doing basically whatever it takes to make the system run smoothly and keep people happy," said Behringer, trial court administrator for North Idaho counties. "You're in charge of daily operations of the courthouse."

Let's look at just what that means.

Behringer oversees specialty courts like mental health, DUI and drug courts. She acts as a liaison between the local courts and virtually everyone else, including prosecutors, public defenders, the Supreme Court, agencies, media and Court Appointed Special Advocates.

She prepares budgets for judges and specialty courts, and organizes when retired judges return to lend a hand.

She helps choose new magistrate judges.

Exhausted yet?

"Somebody asked my daughter once what I do for a living, and she said, 'I don't know. All I know is she talks on the phone a lot,'" the 46-year-old said with a laugh. "If there's anything that's not going the way it should in the court system, be it in the clerk's office, be it with an attorney, be it with a judge, I will get the phone call."

She is one of seven trial court administrators in the state, and is assigned to the five northern counties.

Because Kootenai is the largest and most court-active county, her office is in Coeur d'Alene, currently in the basement of the Old Courthouse adjacent to the county Administration Building on Government Way.

The hours are long, and the responsibilities endless.

"Every day is different," she said. "Tomorrow I could be getting a call that the boiler is broken at the Juvenile Justice Center, or I might get a phone call that, I don't know, the state's budget is being cut again. It's very diversified."

The load is even heavier these days, she added, as the number of cases going through Kootenai courts have skyrocketed in recent years.

Felony drug cases in District Court have shot up from 399 in 2001 to 1,083 in 2010. Felony DUI cases are up from 61 to 117 in the same years. Support proceedings jumped from 25 to 700.

"We're blessed that we have very dedicated, loyal, intelligent people willing to sit down and talk about different issues that affect everybody," she said of how the area is handling the load. "We have meetings with the Juvenile Justice Commission, we have meetings with the Department of Corrections, with the sheriff, with CASA."

All these cases means longer hours for the judges, court staff and law clerks, as well as more information for Behringer to channel.

"There are good people here. They're very dedicated individuals, very dedicated," she said. "The most important thing in any court, especially district court, is you have individual players who perform their individual tasks, but you must have a solid team."

It's been her lifelong goal to make sure everyone enjoys fair and balanced representation.

Raised in New Jersey - "near 'Cake Boss,'" she said - she was inspired by her hard-working parents, who had suffered through the Depression and were both uneducated.

Her father hadn't made it past the fourth grade, she said.

"Because he was undereducated, there were many times I believe he was taken advantage of," she remembered. "I saw that as a kid, so I decided I would do something where I could help people who were being taken advantage of, or needed help."

A graduate of Detroit Law school, she initially worked as a prosecutor in Chicago until she switched to trial court administration in Illinois suburbs, allowing time to raise a family.

Behringer moved with her family five years ago to take her current position.

She's able to help people, she said, just as she had hoped to.

"I love my job, because you know what? It's so diversified. You never know," she said. "This job is fit for person who likes change and can roll with the punches. I cannot recommend this job for someone who likes to do the exact same thing every day."

What's a typical day for you?

It's just a lot of interactions with a lot of different people.

The telephone is ringing and e-mails are consistent throughout the day. Especially on Monday.

There's tons of different meetings I attend, could be with the county board, could be a child protection stakeholder meeting, just depends.

What is the biggest issue that courts in Kootenai county face today?

This is throughout the state. One of the biggest issues is just the growth, the amount of cases that we have coming in. You know, we really need another magistrate judge, we definitely need more staff, just because of the demand coming in. We need more court rooms, we need more office space. We do the best with what we have, but we could certainly use more help.

Why do you think there's been such an increase in cases?

Maybe it's the recession? People fallen on hard times? That's what I think. It seems when times are tough on people, you'll see trends, see increases in case loads in certain sections.

I think because of the economy, there seems to be little increase in domestic violence, and things like that, but when you look at the state overall, we're always in the top three. Ada County, Canyon County and Kootenai County.

For some reason, youth civil cases and magistrate court cases were up. It might be a reflection of the recession. There were more small claims cases, just kind of property matters. I'm not sure if people are trying to resolve these matters so they can enforce a judgment and get a cash judgment.

What services are available to help folks going through the court system?

The court assistance officer is there to help pro bono people with filling out forms, any paperwork that has to be filed with the court, maybe a motion or a petition, and they deal with a lot of family law type cases, custody, things like that.

Janet Meserve, the family court coordinator, does parenting classes, she's kind of a contact point where she resources people out to other agencies who can help with other things. Those are two resources under my umbrella that offer services at a lower cost or free.

How many judges are there in Kootenai County?

Four district judges, and six magistrate judges.

What's the difference between district and magistrate courts?

It's the type of cases that they hear. Typically, magistrate court you would hear misdemeanors, family law cases, custody, things like that, child protection cases, juvenile cases, infractions. Whereas in magistrate court, you would hear felonies, higher civil cases like medical malpractice.

Does one see more cases?

It's interesting, because magistrate caseloads, when you look at them, has a substantially, much higher case load. In 2010, there were 40,465 cases filed in magistrate court. In district, there was 3,904. So it's just very different.

Are Supreme Court cases ever heard in Kootenai County?

The Supreme Court operates out of Boise. They do travel every so often, though, to hear cases. They'll be here in April to hear cases.

What's your opinion of the judges in Kootenai County?

While the cases can be very disturbing, I think that because of the quality of the judges we have here, it's not as unsettling as it would be if there was a judiciary that wasn't as committed. I've had minimal complaints about staff and judges, which means to me everyone is satisfied with the services they've received.

You may not like the outcome of the case, but you feel like you were heard. You feel like you had your day in court.

How does our court system in North Idaho compare to others across the country?

It seems that the judiciary here is smaller, and the Supreme Court is much more involved with the local courts. I think because it's smaller, it just seems like there's more camaraderie, more of a team effort where people are reaching out and asking people for their opinions.

In Kootenai County itself, the judges are fabulous. They interact really well. I could approach any judge and talk to him and ask his opinion on anything, as he could I. I think that makes it stronger, because everyone's not just out for themselves.

What was involved in turning the old federal courthouse on Lakeside Avenue into the new Juvenile Justice Center?

Well, I had to fill out the application, just to see if we would be eligible to get the building. So we were accepted through the first round, and then they wanted a formal application. Then I met with the commissioners, we went over it. Then we started meeting and talking about what was the best use for the building, how many people would fit, and how we would have to reconstruct and renovate the building to see how many offices were needed. It's almost like buying a house.

The county had to meet not only with district court, but juvenile diversion, juvenile probation, the bailiffs office, the historical society, because this place is historical.

They had to meet with the city to get the proper permits and the architect and the builders. It was a very big project.

What difference has it made to have that building as a resource?

It's a huge help. It's just more courtrooms we can use. It's offered up more space, which the county desperately needed. It was not uncommon for us to be trying to schedule cases where we could find a courtroom available. Every courtroom is filled and utilized all the time.

What kind of hours do the courts run?

Most people think the court system is 9 to 5. That really doesn't happen here. It's not uncommon for people to be here at 7 in the morning, and then, like specialty courts, sometimes they're not out of here until 8 or 9 at night.

We've tried to handle the caseload within normal business hours, but because of the needs of the community, and because we're public servants, we just had to expand it.

A lot of judges get here really early. It's not uncommon for these folks to be working 12-hour days. When the judges go into court, they're there, but there's prep work before, and work after.

How long does it take for a case to go through the court system?

It just depends. It depends on the case, it depends upon the attorney, it depends upon the parties. Some faster than others. If a person pleads guilty, typically it can be resolved sooner. If they go to trial, it takes a little bit longer.

If there's one thing you could change about the court system in Kootenai County, what would that be?

I think I'd like to change two things. My ultimate dream would be to have a multi-level courthouse that attaches to the jail, via an underground tunnel or something like that, where the jail could transport the prisoners back and forth easily. Everybody on one big campus. That would really help with everything, with transportation, security.

My second dream would be to have everything go paperless. All the filings, everything, a big paperless system. Because we are busting at the seams with paper.

And of course I want another judge.