NCJ Number
133223
Journal
Court Manager Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1991) Pages: 25,36
Date Published
1991
Length
2 pages
Annotation
Ventura County, California, has implemented the Municipal Court Criminal/Traffic On-Line System (MCIS) that includes on-line access and transfer capabilities with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, public defender, collections, and corrections service agency; an on-line docket entry system; court information sheets for judges; and a network through county criminal justice agencies that provides calendars and court information.
Abstract
The MCIS has exceeded all expectations, and the only real problem staff have experienced has been an occasional inability to keep up with the system. A joint pilot project for automatic traffic citations has been initiated with the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Hand-held automated citation devices (ACD's) are used to issue moving and commercial violation citations. Citation data are entered directly from the registration and license into the ACD. At the end of the shift, the ACD is uploaded into a personal computer which electronically transfers all citations to the municipal court's on-line system. The MCIS direct calendaring system supports vertical case management and provides for the random assignment of judges to pending and future case filings. An innovative statistical package breaks down all statistics by courtroom. These reports help judges manage their inventory more effectively, monitor the age of cases, and stimulate the judicial process by adding the subtle elements of competition and peer pressure. The automated superior court system has been developed further with the addition of on-line accounting and exhibit tracking systems. Ventura County has also implemented a Differentiated Case Management System to facilitate mandated court delay reduction.