Today would probably be a good day to not be in the Courthouse. The County's new courts technology program is launching and it will be remarkable if it goes smoothly.
In 1998, when the 1/4 cent sales tax for public safety passed, $250,000 per year was allocated to improve the technology in the criminal justice system. After reviewing a number of options, the County went with New World Systems with a so called "box" solution that would need to tailored to the needs of Champaign County. Getting this product out of the box and installed and running in Champaign County has taken about 7 or 8 years.
The system should incorporate the Sheriff's office, Circuit Clerk, Probation, State's Attorney, Public Defender, and Circuit Judges into one system. This will eliminate needing to reenter court records at each stage in the process. In addition, the system envisions scanning court documents in order to eliminate transferring files to Courtrooms.
But whenever you involve this many offices in such a large project there are likely to be problems. While each of the offices works together, each also has it's own way of doing things. Because so many of these people are elected officials in their own right, they also don't necessarily have to go along with the program. For example, if a judge still wants the entire paper court record brought to his courtroom, that's what's going to happen.
I have little doubt that in the end, hopefully within weeks, the system will be running smoothly. But the transition could give some heartburn to more than a few people. From a public perception, Circuit Clerk Linda Frank stands front and center on this project. It is her staff that is going to have to inform legal secretaries that their filing which would have sufficed last week may be lacking this week. Or that someone with a traffic ticket has had their case postponed because the data didn't make it into the new system. I give a lot of credit to Linda for pushing forward on this in an election year. It would have been easy to put off this launch for six months to place it outside the political debate.
One positive for the public is that Linda fought for continued free access to the docket sheets as she has been providing for years. Some enterprising officials apparently would have liked to go to a pay system. That free system also is in transition, so don't be surprised if your access this week is sporadic.
No doubt some readers will be at the Courthouse this week. I'd like to hear comments.
The ICJL has been a JANO subscriber for nearly three or four years now. It's a great service and well worth the approximately $250/year price tag for the amount of searchable caseload to which you get access (other JANO counties include Madison, Will, Kane and Winnebago). Champaign County had a fairly good in-house system already, but it's nice to see you going to JANO. With the state of technology in the public sector, I'm amazed that large Illinois counties like Saint Clair and DuPage get away with not having searchable court databases, whether free or through systems like JANO. Smaller counties even have the Judici system available at low cost, so there's really no excuse for any Illinois county not to have public access to online court dockets.
"...there's really no excuse for any Illinois county not to have public access to online court dockets."
Will the state's discovery in a criminal trial be publically accessable online as well?
"Getting this product out of the box and installed and running in Champaign County has taken about 7 or 8 years. "
The County Board must not know anything about it or they would have hired some high priced out of town consultants to find "A better system" at a lot more $$$$$$$$ !
I'd like the same indignant standards applied to this program as are being applied to the nursing home. I doubt if that will happen, because some things are beyond sustained, thoughtful criticism in this county, while others are the the target of endless criticism. At least the nursing home is held responsible for untimely death when occurs on its watch. The same can't be said of the jail, for instance.
The JANO system is flawed. The Training has been little to none. The "training manual" that they gave us is hard to follow is not step by step and has no what if's or problem solving abilitys. It is rediculous that the Circuit Clerk went on Television and claimed that everything was fine and that it is going to be so great. It's a little too premature, but since this is an election year she just wants everyone to feel warm and fuzzy. SHE is being irresponsible and STUPID as a public official. Linda doesn't even know how do do anything in her office. SHE IS CLUELESS and anyone who votes for her in November is DUMB. You are being misinformed big time. The employees in her office as well as the Circuit Court are Unhappy with the training we have received. There is only very few people that are a help to the clerks in the Jano system. We do appreciate that but there are so few the answer to the question seems to take forever. The county board really needs to communicate with the employees to decide what should be done. It is not the fact that it is a new system but how employees got thrown into it. The training is my complaint. If I were a county offical at the courthouse i would have never went foward until I knew my staff felt comfortable and I knew that they would be taken care of within minutes of a question. They would have had manuals that made sense. No one seems to understand or take seriously that these are peoples lives we are dealing with. If we make mistakes it affects alot more than a misunderstanding. Please Please help tell everyone on the county board and anyone in the community who can help the employees get better training or more people that know how to manuver the JANO system. It has been adapted but it's not perfect. It is not the guy who the county hired to adapt it's fault. The responsibility relys on the elected officals who don't train and help thier staff feel comfortable with the training that they have received.
Employee of Champaign County.
"SHE is being irresponsible and STUPID as a public official. Linda doesn't even know how do do anything in her office. SHE IS CLUELESS and anyone who votes for her in November is DUMB."
Namecalling is so persuasive.
I wonder if Employee of Champaign County is running for office and works in the Brookens Building...
The sad fact is that the JANO system is a three million dollar failure. It doesn't work and they can't make it work. There has been no public access for a month while the folks who sold this bill of goods to the County are scratching their heads trying to figure out why it isn't working.
Why isn't this waste of money getting the Mark Shelden treatment like mold at the nursing home did?
I don't know whose fault this is, but I would like to know whter its too late to stop payment on the check.
And in response to "June 30th, 2008 at 01:18 PM, Anonymous"; the State no longer files the discovery in the court file so there is no way it would be accessible even if JANO was working (which it isn't).
The biggest reason that I've not commented or researched much on this is that I have my own software development going on in my office that is taking most of my energy. It would be pretty foolhardy right now to exhaustively research the deficiencies of JANO and have my own problems to boot.
I just wish someone would show an interest. I know its not your job, Mark. But it really irks me to see the County Board let itself get cheated like this.
'"SHE is being irresponsible and STUPID as a public official. Linda doesn't even know how do do anything in her office. SHE IS CLUELESS and anyone who votes for her in November is DUMB."
Namecalling is so persuasive.'
You're right, IP, and it's unfortunate that the writer stooped to namecalling because the meat of the post is very disturbing if true.
Reitz loves the Jano system, her assistants hate it. The Judges hate it. Linda hates it. Her clerks hate it. The private bar would hate it if they could get it. The public would love it if, and only if, it was running and was accurate, and was free. It will have only the barest boned information for the public if it ever gets up and running. Go see the Jano website and see if you can figure out just what it will do.
People are being turned away from the jail to start sentences because the Jano system fails sometimes to show the person should be in jail.
Linda cannot run the older PASS system because the contract with Jano is exclusive.
The court system is getting backed up, and a crisis is looming.
It is a horrible mess, and very very expensive.
If the JANO system has an exclusive contract to provide access to court records, for a fee, of course, why do I keep hearing that Linda Frank is struggling to get her PASS system working again?
Can the JANO contract be obtained with a FOIA request? Has the County made any payments? What does JANO say to explain why the system isn't working? I guess I just don't understand what the problem is and why its no longer possible to check court records. Judge Defanis is supposed to be in charge, right? Is state money also being used to pay for this because the Courts are a State operation?