North Dakota Judicial Branch Issues RFP

The State of North Dakota, Unified Judicial Branch issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 for a statewide implementation of a statewide Case Management Systems (CMS) to replace the exisiting Unified Court InformationSystem application.  Proposals are due on May 21, 2008.  To download the RFP and related documents go to:

http://www.ndcourts.com/rfp/cmsrfp/dates.htm

New CMS Makes Strides in California Courts

A press release from the Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts describes progress on their CMS project:

New Case Management System Makes Strides in California Courts

San Francisco – The Superior Court of San Joaquin County yesterday became the most recent trial court in California to launch the California Court Case Management System (CCMS), a new technology initiative aimed at modernizing the state judicial branch and promoting information sharing among courts and other justice system agencies.

CCMS already has been launched in Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, and Ventura Counties. Sponsored by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), CCMS will enable all trial courts to use one application for all case categories.

The Superior Court of San Joaquin County is the first to use the system for all case types starting on day one, including civil, small claims, probate, and mental health case types.

By the end of 2012, all 58 superior courts will be using CCMS to provide better service to the public and enhance sharing of information with justice partners such as the Department of Justice and the 

Department of Child Support Services.

History of Case Management System

California’s 58 superior courts are currently using about 70 different case management systems, from traditional paper filing systems to customized software programs.

In 2001, an assessment showed that a number of courts were facing critical needs because of outdated systems, deficient technical support, the inability to meet legislative and reporting requirements, and the high cost of maintenance. With the approval of the Judicial Council, the AOC launched the CCMS project a year later to address these concerns.

A primary goal of the CCMS project is to make the courts “venue transparent,” giving court users and the public the ability to conduct business from any location in California. This project supports the Judicial Council’s goal to modernize state courts and to establish statewide technology initiatives that better manage court operations and resources.

For more information on CCMS, see the California Courts Web site:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/reference/documents/factsheets/CCMS.pdf

Federal Courts IT Initiatives for 2008

 The Third Branch US Federal Courts newsletter for February, 2008 contains an article titled: Local IT Initiatives Funded for FY 2008.  The article discusses four project that are funded under the Edwin L. Nelson Local IT Initiatives Grant Program.  The article states: "the IT grand program encourages and promotes local court technology innovations that can be shared with other courts".

E-Courts 2008 Agenda Available

An update to the E-Courts 2008 conference agenda has been posted to the conference website. The E-Courts conference will be held from December 8-10, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. While there are a few details remaining to be finalized, the agenda will give one a good idea of this years conference content. It is anticipated that the conference session descriptions will be available soon.

Montgomery County, Ohio E-Filing Blog

Our good friend, James Drubert, the Court Administrator at the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in Dayton, Ohio shares that they have started a blog on their E-filing project and related E-filing issues. To read and share ideas on their blog, go to:
http://www.montcourt.org:8080/wordpress/

AIIM 2008 Report

Last week I visited the AIIM 2008 conference and exhibition in Boston, Massachusetts.  I saw several items that may be of interest to our friends in the court community.  First, I am a fan of straight path scanners.  Anything that keeps paper from leaving its original “flat orientation” is a good idea. One example is the HP Scanjet 7800 that is rated at 25 pages per minute, but can also scan two-sided with one pass and has a 50 page document feeder.  It has some nice software that comes with it.  Second, many of us are trying to create and post online forms.  The company that makes the Foxit PDF reader program has a Form Designer Program available for $79.  At that price one might as well try it.  And finally, for those courts that are undertaking scanning projects that involve docket, registry, or minute books, one might be interested in a scanner that automatically scans and turns the pages by itself by Kirtas Technologies.  They also have a service bureau if one wants to use the scanning system for a limited job.

Norfolk Virginia Plans Digital Files

An article titled Norfolk court clerk bytes off ambitious goal: paperless files published last year in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper; the Clerk of Circuit Court in Norfolk, Virginia, George Schaefer, describes the benefits of converting from a paper to digital system.

Ingham County Michigan E-Court Plans

The February 3, 2008 edition of the Lansing State Journal in Lansing Michigan contains an article titled: Ingham Co. plans to put court records on Internet.  The article notes "Under the concept, most circuit court documents - such as lawsuits and court motions - would be scanned into a system at the courthouse and be viewable online."

Seattle Bike Messengers a Dying Breed

The February 25, 2008 edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper in Seattle, Washington describes in an article titled: "The plea of a dying breed: Don't kill the bike messengers" the impact of E-mail and E-filing is having on their business.

Internet Overhaul Begins

For our more technical friends out there, earlier this month (as described in this article from the BBC) the master Internet record addresses started the long process of being upgraded from the standard Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) to Version 6 (IPv6). The upgrade is intended to provide a huge number of new individual addresses for computers and other devices to be registered on the Internet but, it is also meant to provide other technological upgrades. The Wikipedia article on IPv6 provides an excellent summary of these benefits.
What does this mean to you in the near future? Not very much except for technical managers purchasing new networking equipment. But over time the upgrade provides an improved foundation for the growth of the Net.