Technology

​Statewide Plan to Implement Technology in the Courts

The State Court Administrative Office has a technology plan in place to guide its efforts in establishing statewide rules, standards, guidelines, fee schedules, local implementation protocol, training mechanisms and materials, and technology tool kits to aid the judiciary in implementing technology at both the statewide and local level. 

The Technology Implementation Committee will assist the office in developing these various products at its quarterly meetings in 2013.  The committee will be meeting on March 14, June 13, September 19, and December 5.  See details of the committee's role and its membership.  Past and upcoming agendas are also available, along with minutes of the meetings.

The following is a summary version of the plan.  We encourage you to review this plan and to contact the State Court Administrative Office if you have any questions.  This summary version of the plan will be updated quarterly, following the Technology Implementation Committee meetings, to show completed tasks and objectives.  The detailed plan, with a schedule, is available from the link to the left. 

Following the plan are details for public launch of technology and suggested steps for courts to follow in preparing for an e-filing project. 

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Public Launch

Look for a public launch of resources for electronic filing, electronic document management systems, video conferencing, digital audio and video recording, use of social media in the trial courts, and trial court web site design.  These resources will be accessible from Technology Tool Kits on this site and will include:

• Policy and Definitions

• Statutory Authority

• Funding Mechanisms and Fee Schedules

• Court Rule Procedures and Standards

• Protocol and Guidelines for Implementation

• Best Practices and Contacts for Mentoring

• Training Materials

How to Prepare for an E-Filing Project

Before embarking on an e-filing project, a trial court should make adequate preparations for a successful implementation.  Some of the preparations include:

Develop an Implementation Plan

1. Create a committee or an advisory group and include the bench, the local bar, the court, the clerk’s office, and the technology department (if one exists).
• It is important to have a champion.
• Involve super users or those that have a good working knowledge of document processes.
2. Determine what you want to accomplish.

• Have an electronic document management system in place. Determine how robust it needs to be.

• Identify the fundamental elements expected from an e-filing solution.

• Plan to integrate the electronic document management system and e-filing application with the case management system. 

3. Develop a working plan to implement e-filing slowly at first, with steps on how to expand and when to expand.

4. Establish success measures for both e-filing and the electronic document management system.

Establish an Electronic Document Management System

1. Purchase/Obtain software and hardware.

2. Start scanning and indexing from a point forward.

3. Plan to maintain two file retention systems for a while (paper and electronic) and clean up physical files.

4. Document cost-savings.
5. Integrate with the case management.
6. Encourage users to view records electronically instead of using the physical paper records.

Analyze and automate case processing

1. Develop use cases for each type of pleading or document to be filed.
2. Investigate and document workflow, document routing rules and other processes, and streamline where possible.
3. Simulate each situation in the e-filing and electronic document management system applications.

Additional items

1. Identify who is responsible for training users, both staff and e-filers.

2. Determine next steps.