North Carolina Court Technology Said to be Outdated

In a hearing before the recently created North Carolina House Judicial Efficiency and Effective Administration of Justice committee, John W. Smith, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) noted the challenges that the courts are facing.

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In an article posted on November, 29, 2013 at the newsobserver.com website titled “Understaffing, outdated technology, unstable funding threaten courts", state court administrator John W. Smith projected that 700 staff positions and new computer technology will be needed to address the courts workload in the state.  And regarding court technology:

"Technology that has become antiquated is another challenge, and one that is facing states and the federal government. Smith said a recurring question is whether it’s better to buy the latest technology or get the cheapest and upgrade it later. 

The AOC’s mainframe-based computer software language is written in COBOL, one of the oldest coding languages around. It is increasingly difficult to maintain and upgrade it. 

The AOC recently hired a new chief information technology officer, who will begin tackling those kinds of problems. But there are other tech problems, Smith said, such as finding parts to run the machines that are converting paper records to microfilm. The legislature cut $5 million from the agency’s technology budget in 2011."

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