The product of preliminary research including a regional and a national survey and 3 workshop sessions held in the western U.S. involving 100 people concerned with rural judicial procedures, this report focuses upon the problems of administering justice in rural areas. Specifically, this report deals with: the rural environment and its impact on courts (the changing rural environment, smaller volume of cases, lack of resources, and space and separation); operational aspects of courts in rural areas; providing quality personnel (judges, court administrators, clerks, etc.); training court personnel (formal continuing education via regional training sessions, roving trainers, and recorded training sessions and developing other mechanisms for information transfer); overcoming the problems of distance (case scheduling, paper flow, jury management, availability of witnesses, court reporting, and applied technology); building satisfactory physical resources (facilities, libraries, and equipment); delivering effective court-related social services (juvenile care, diversion programs, and victim assistance); maintaining sound intergovernmental relations (criminal justice agencies, court system, court finance, and citizen involvement); approaches to improving rural courts. Also included in this report are: an appendix (background material and workshop documentation); an index of innovative projects and programs; a selected bibliography; and tables and figures providing comparative statistics. (JC)