A Web-Based Domestic Violence Protection System is Running in Florida

Dan Zinn, CIO in the Office of the State Attorney for the 15th Judicial Circuit in West Palm Beach, Florida sends us the following description of their new web-based domestic violence protection system:

The Domestic Violence Information System (DVIS) is a web-enabled application designed to provide a centralized source for information about victims and defendants involved in domestic violence. The purpose of the project is to facilitate more effective interventions for battered women and their children. The project objectives are to: (1) Enhance court processes. (2) Protect and provide services to persons at risk for domestic violence. (3) To collect and share information between criminal justice and social service agencies.

The DVIS project started July 2001 when the State Attorney applied for and received a grant to develop a system of information sharing for the courts. The State Attorney's Office (SAO) took a leadership role in identifying the Stakeholders, business requirements and then led the development of the application. The following stakeholders participated in the development of DVIS: 

• Eleven (11) Batters Intervention Programs (BIPS)
• Florida Department of Children and Families
• Florida Department of Corrections
• Palm Beach District Schools
• Palm Beach District Courts (15th Judicial Circuit)
• Palm Beach County Probation (Pride)
• Palm Beach County Public Safety Victim Services.
• Shelters
• State Attorney's Office (15th Judicial Circuit)

The information gathered from the meetings formed the scope of work and defined the architecture for the database. International Standards Organization (ISO) quality management principles were and are continuously used throughout the development process.

A major problem identified during the process was the high level of paper generated and the duplication of effort required. DVIS was designed to eliminate duplicate efforts and to provide a central point of information sharing. Where paper documents were required, DVIS provides the ability to print out forms directly from the database. Revisiting and reengineering several manual processes also eliminated the need for paper all together. In a typical case DVIS eliminates 144 manual processes previously required.

DVIS uses the information from STAC (see the March/April 2003 Court Technology Bulletin) to update the database. This approach eliminates multiple entry of information. Ten other circuits in Florida use STAC, in the future, DVIS can be implemented in other circuits without additional programming costs. Currently DVIS has 300+ users. DVIS is a .Net application that can connect to any SQL database. The application was developed using federal funds and is available to criminal justice agencies.

Hi-Tech Nuclear Regulatory Commission Courtroom Noted

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission was recognized in eWeek Magazine for their hi-tech courtroom that will be hosting the Yucca Mountain licensing case in Nevada. The article notes that more than 300,000 documents are available electronically as well as extensive video conferencing capabilities.

Mississippi Creating Court Technology Fund

Federal Computer Week is reporting that the Mississippi State Legislature is creating a $10 fee on civil filings to fund an "electronic court systems fund."

Future Trends - RFID Technology

Last year former NCSC'er, Doug Walker wrote a Future Trends article on Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) and the courts. RFID technology has been receiving quite a bit of press in recent months due to a huge initiative by the WalMart Corporation. Even if your court converts to electronic documents and e-filing in the near future, RFID will be a very useful technology for tracking and improving security for staff, detainees, and evidence.

Alabama AOC Intoduces AlaFile

Chief Justice Drayton Nabers, Jr. recently introduced via direct webcast the new statewide AlaFile(tm) electronic court document filing system to Alabama Attorneys. The new system will initially focus on the nearly 200,000 civil filings submitted each year in the state. The project website lays out an agressive implementation schedule and provides information on the court rules, electronic procedures, a FAQ, and a feedback form. (Please note that is best to view these websites using Microsoft Internet Explorer.)

One Judge's Experience with his Tablet PC by O. John Kuenhold

O. John Kuenhold is the Chief Judge in the 12th District of Colorado. He was appointed as a District Court Judge in 1981. Judge Kuenhold received his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1969, the same year he was admitted to the Colorado Bar. From offices in Alamosa County, Kuenhold sits in all six counties that comprise the 12th Judicial District, hearing appeals form county court and cases arising under criminal, civil, juvenile, domestic relations, and mental health law. He recently shared some of his experiences with the Tablet PC with me and I received permission from him to pass them along.

All the district judges in Colorado now have Tablet convertible PCs running on XP with Office 2003 and OneNote. My experience with a tablet PC is similar to the NCSC Technology group. At first I was greatly enamored with the handwriting ability (You can really "sign" orders in Word to send to e-filing) but have found that I use it the Tablet PC convertible more as a conventional laptop. I have had some carpal tunnel problems from overuse of the mouse. With the Tablet PC one can review e-mails and delete messages with the pen. It actually saves time and is also kind to the wrist. In Colorado, our Tablet PCs come with a program called Microsoft OneNote which can be used on any XP based computer. 

One Note takes good advantage of the handwriting and drawing features of the Tablet PC ability, but the program has other more impressive features as well. It allows a tab-based organization of complex related materials. For example, I create an electronic One Note folder for each trial witrh subfolders for each side's witnesses and a folder for pleadings and another for research. I create a "page" for each witness. These tabs sit to the right side of the screen so you can jump back and forth. One can also import other documents as a picture on the OneNote page with links back to the original document. So if I have found a case on Westlaw that I wish to refer back to, I import the case and it becomes a tabbed page. Similarly, I was the official secretary at our last chief judge's meeting. During the meeting there were references to all kinds of documents that had been emailed to us before the meeting. I had imported all the documents as pages into OneNote so they were tabbed in the folder. When I finished my minutes, I sent them out to the other chiefs, administrators and the Chief Justice as a One Note file. They could then read the minutes and, with one click go to the document that the minutes refer to. No more trying to find that email from three weeks ago!

Georgia Courts Applying BI Technology

Jorge Basto, Director of Technology for the Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts was the subject of a recent ComputerWorld magazine article titled: Central Intelligence: Large organizations are moving to consolidated BI suites; (w)hy many large organizations are moving to consolidated business intelligence suites. In the article he notes that their goal is to implement this technology by the end of the year. And, that by implementing business intelligence technology "he believes the benefits of consolidating court reporting and analysis applications will be substantial: 'There are seven levels of courts, numerous court-related agencies and offices, as well as several executive and legislative agencies that could use this information.'"

Federal Court Visiting Judges Helped by Electronic Files

The US Federal Court newsletter, "The Third Branch" has published an article titled Visiting Judges Take Their Work On The Road in which it notes:

"Courts that don't use visiting judges usually cite a lack of clerical support and/or space. However, the use of Case Management/Electronic Case Files in the district courts has made it even easier for visiting judges in terms of handling paperwork. And with CM/ECF, a visiting judge may not have to travel to a court to offer assistance."

So there's another reason for state courts to break the addiction to paper.

Washington Technology Magazine Recognizes XML Work

Washington Technology Magazine recently published an article titled "Integrators Woo Criminal Justice Work" that highlights several GJXDM based projects. The article also mentions several jurisdictions and companies that are involved in creating these systems.

E-Courts 2006 Conference Website is Online

The E-Courts 2006 conference website is now available. The fifth edition of the E-Courts conference will be held from December 11-13, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year's focus will be on organizational transformation that we call "Digital Opportunity" as well as cool new technology. This is the one court technology event that you will not want to miss this year.