Monday, February 13, 2006

Michigan's Electronic Statistical Reporting System

While doing some research recently we found that the Michigan AOC has implemented an electronic statistical report submission system. We contacted them and received the following excellent article from Ms. Laura Hutzel, Research and Policy Analyst, Michigan Supreme Court,
State Court Administrative Office:

Michigan trial courts use a web-based application, the Caseload Reporting System (CRS), to report caseload data to the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO). This secure application assists courts with caseload reporting and provides standard output reports.

Trial courts are required to submit a wealth of caseload data to SCAO. The courts report the number of cases pending at the beginning of the year, the number of new filings each quarter, the number of reopened cases each quarter, and the number of cases disposed by different methods each quarter. 

These figures are reported for every case type. In addition, circuit courts submit juvenile case statistics, the number of juveniles under supervision, child protective statistics, and the number of children who are court wards. Probate courts also submit the number of people with guardians and conservators, the number of active estates and trusts, and the number of second or continuing petitions for mental commitments. Each trial judge is required to submit annual disposed case age and pending case age reports through CRS. Based on the reported data, CRS calculates the number of cases pending at the end of each quarter.

CRS contains many features to assist courts with reporting caseload data. Using SCAO-issued usernames and passwords, authorized court employees can access CRS. The chief judge or court administrator can use CRS to electronically add or remove authorization for their employees. In the secure environment, authorized employees can electronically upload or manually enter caseload data. They can also view reports that identify missing, incomplete, or inconsistent data. Using CRS, users can e-mail a question to the Help Desk, read a list of frequently asked questions and answers, or download the reporting manuals and instructions. SCAO employees can use CRS to send reminder e-mail messages to courts that have not yet submitted or verified their caseload data. Chief judges log in to CRS and verify when the annual data for their courts is ready for publication. Upon receiving the chief judge's verification, CRS automatically sends a confirmation e-mail to the chief judge.
CRS contains eleven different output reports of the reported caseload data. Throughout the year, authorized users can obtain a summary report that consolidates caseload data into general categories, such as civil, criminal, and domestic relations. They can also obtain a full detail report which lists each case type. Summary and detail reports for all state trial courts are compiled for the Michigan Supreme 

Court's Annual Report and posted on the public website at:

Case age reports are under development and will show the extent to which each judge met recommended time guidelines.

Indiana Releases Case Management System PNCO

On February 13, 2006, the Indiana Supreme Court published a Public Notice of Contracting Opportunities (PNCO) seeking proposals which would provide Indiana courts and clerks with a 21st Century Case Management System (CMS).