The Allen Superior Court has vastly improved the public’s accessibility and convenience to its Misdemeanor and Traffic Court. The change will reduce visitor/defendant apprehension and anxiety. This is due to Judge Fran Gull’s commitment to employ new technology to improve services and the support of two very generous and timely Indiana Supreme Court Reform grants.
Grants totaling nearly $60,000 funded this innovative and challenging project in which the Supreme Court’s Odyssey case management system was integrated with proprietary display software. It enabled the Allen Superior Court to create a one-of-a-kind, user-friendly self-help environment for the public.
Under Judge Gull’s direction and guidance, former Superior Court Executive Jerry Noble spearheaded these efforts with the assistance of Project Manager Ms. Tracy Ripplinger from the Allen County IT Department.
The Misdemeanor and Traffic Court of Allen Superior Court’s Criminal Division files and processes approximately 30,000 cases annually. It is a court that deals with traffic citations, ordinance violations, as well as infractions and misdemeanor criminal offenses—a wide swath of Allen County citizenry. This court discovered by means of public comments, complaints and self-assessment that citizens were experiencing frustration and difficulty navigating to the appropriate locations and courtrooms within the Justice Center facility.
It became obvious an improved means of “wayfinding,” including updated signage, was necessary. Further, it was the court’s hope to design changes that would serve as a template for other courts in the future.
Court staff conducted a thorough study to identify diverse wayfinding challenges and solutions within the Justice Center. Allen Superior Court selected Infax, Inc., as the principal vendor to provide the initial wayfinding assessment, including electronic signage recommendations, which would provide the public with an enhanced user-friendly and functionally intuitive environment.
Working jointly with the Allen County IT Department, the Indiana Supreme Court’s Technology staff, Infax, Inc. and the Allen County Maintenance Department, the Allen Superior Court became the first court in the state to export data from its Odyssey Case Management System to Infax’s Docket Call application—providing an electronic public display of cases on three large overhead monitors. This replaced the need for printed hard copy calendars. A fourth monitor is used to provide the public with instructions in both English and Spanish (and possibly Burmese) for court check-in procedures and direction to the appropriate employee window for service.
This past year, court staff designed a major second phase of the project to utilize two kiosks for the public to automate the check-in procedure by entering their last name on a touch screen and selecting whether they are represented by an attorney. It then confirms their check-in status and directs them to the correct courtroom for additional instructions. New PCs were installed in the courtrooms for prosecutors to determine who had checked in, with or without an attorney, and provided a “drag and drop” monitor feature to move each name to the “processed” field category as the case is called.
Court staff completed the final project component on July 10, 2014, when the kiosks were activated for public use. Also, staff updated signage and the instruction monitor to delineate the new processes.
To quickly identify and respond to process issues and problems with this new check-in hardware, software and public routing scheme, during the first week of operation Court and IT staff assisted the users/general public. Court staff identified and addressed minor functional concerns, and have adjusted the kiosk screen text and images to make them more descriptive and operationally streamlined.