NCJ Number
108484
Date Published
1987
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Presenters discuss issues in developing automated court management systems.
Abstract
Keith Bumsted, director of administration and technical services for the National Center for State Courts, provides an overview of the status of automated management in the courts, noting that less than one-half of the trial courts in the United States are automated. In developing a computerized court management system, he recommends a system that integrates with the data management system of other criminal justice agencies, so that each criminal justice component can access information supplied by the other components. Leading edges of automation are noted to be the use of the optical disc to store more data, electronic filing, computer terminals for judges on the bench, and rapid retrieval of judicial decisions by subject. Judge Patricia Lykos of the 180th District Court in Houston, Tex., describes her court's integrated computerized management system. Case data are initiated at a single intake point, and all other points of case processing can access all case information and supply appropriate case information that others may access. She prioritizes the court operations that should be automated, beginning with jury management. Gordon Griller, court administrator of the Superior Court of Maricopa County (Arizona), provides guidelines for computerizing court management. Among his suggestions are not to overplan by waiting for new technology, plan an integrated system, and select the hardware and software that best meet the particular court's needs as well as the needs of the criminal justice components that will be part of the integrated system. Audience questions are included.