Leadership of the Indiana Judges Association worked with Indiana House Representative Greg Steuerwald (R-Danville) and other key legislators to secure passage of House Enrolled Act 1393 in the 2013 session of the Indiana General Assembly. Governor Mike Pence signed it into law on May 11.
The act restores funding, through a temporary increase, to the Division of State Court Administration’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) for the continued deployment of the Odyssey case management system to courts and clerks. An oversight committee is charged with studying technology applications, developing long range strategies for the judiciary, and making recommendations to the Indiana Supreme Court for the effective use of technology in the courts.
The oversight committee consists of eleven members and will be chaired by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or his designee. Chief Justice Brent Dickson has designated Justice Mark Massa to serve as chair of this committee.
Other members include the chief information officer of the Office of Technology, two members of the Senate appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, two members of the House of Representatives appointed by the speaker of the house, a trial court judge appointed by the president of the Indiana Judges Association, two circuit court clerks (one clerk representing a county that does not operate under the state’s automated judicial system and one clerk representing a county that operates under the state’s automated judicial system) appointed by the president of the Association of Clerks of Circuit Courts of Indiana, one attorney admitted to the practice of law in Indiana appointed by the president of the Indiana State Bar Association, and an individual affiliated with a taxpayer organization appointed by the governor.
The legislation requires the committee to meet at least once each calendar quarter during July, 2013 through June 30, 2014, and twice each state fiscal year thereafter.