Polk County: A Dozen Years and Still Going Strong
More than a dozen years ago, Richard Weiss, Polk County, Florida, Clerk
of Courts, was frantically looking for a way to replace his paper-based
civil court system. He and his staff were trying to manage some 30,000 cases
a year, indexing, storing, tracking and making available to the public the
growing load virtually all by hand. Technology clearly was the answer, but
he had questions: What technology? At what cost? Could the technology adapt
to changing needs, or would it prove to be a dead end? And how about training
and service?
Today, Polk County – working closely with NewVision Systems --is
a leader in utilizing technology to make court documents instantly available
to judges, attorneys and the public. And those 30,000 cases have nearly
doubled.
The system features a searchable index of all cases filed with the court,
linked to scanned images of court filings. The images are available to
judges and attorneys simultaneously, and they can be accessed from virtually
any location via a county intranet.
Questions answered online, not on the phone
The clerk’s office used to get literally thousands of calls a month
from lawyers and others with routine questions. Today, there are few calls
because the information is available online.
“Ten years ago, we were among the pioneers,” Weiss says.
“Today, technology is a given in many court systems throughout the
country. However, we’re fortunate because we chose a system that
has proved so adaptable that we can add applications as needed, which
is precisely what we have continued to do.”
The juvenile dependency system is a good example of the effective way
NewVision works with its clients. After an initial study indicated that
the juvenile process needed streamlining, existing operations were documented,
reviewed and analyzed to determine the impact a new system could achieve
in terms of expediting cases, cutting costs, enhancing accuracy and other
key measures. The system went live in late 2007, just 13 months after
the initial study was completed. A Collections module is in the process
of being added.
Comprehensive County-wide Civil and Criminal System
Weiss, his staff and NewVision are hard at work now on a comprehensive
Criminal Court Management System. NewVision conducted an operational study
for five core criminal case management areas – Circuit Criminal
(felony and county court appeals), County Criminal (misdemeanor and civil
penalties), Pre-trial, Probation and Traffic Infractions. Criminal court
indexes were recently made available to the public, including felonies
back to 1991.
“We’re just a few months from having a single, comprehensive,
image-based countywide system, Weiss says. “Digital images of all
documents will be available online literally at the fingertips of attorneys,
judges and court-related agencies. Most are available today, and it has
accelerated the movement of cases through the courts.”
Weiss believed years ago that he would have to continue to add staff
just to keep up with his expanding case load and the paper it produced.
His staff today has not increased in proportion to cases added because,
he says, “technology has made us dramatically more efficient.”
Weiss says he’s not finished yet. With identification theft becoming
a significant problem, he is working with NewVision on redaction. He’s
also partnering with NewVision to identify requirements for disaster prevention
and recovery.
“The world has changed radically in the past decade, and we’ve
been fortunate to have a partner in NewVision that has developed systems
and processes that have enabled us to stay ahead of the curve. It’s
a great relationship that’s paid off for those of us in the courts
and the citizens of Polk County.”
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