I had a job with a state agency in the US that did a similarly-functioning job... our workflow was exactly as ksand24 described: each officer was assigned an equal number of cases, randomly selected, and we were responsible for those cases from initial receipt to final disposition. We had a statutory 90-day turnaround, unless the parties waived the limit (which they were willing to do if they wanted to submit additional evidence not already in the file by the time the officer was deciding the case), but there was no penalty if we failed to meet the 90 day deadline. Some officers were more efficient than others. And some cases were more difficult than others. It was easy to get behind. And it was really easy to back-burner a case once you had an agreed 90-day waiver.
