Boston--The first installation of MassCourts, the Trial Court’s comprehensive, statewide information technology system, will begin in the Boston Municipal Court Department of the Trial Court this fall, Chief Justice for Administration and Management Barbara A. Dortch-Okara announced today at the MassCourts Leadership Conference in Wellesley.  Following implementation in the Boston Municipal Court, MassCourts will be installed in the Land Court in January, 2004, in all the courts in Plymouth County later in the spring, and then in all Trial Court departments throughout the Commonwealth.

            Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall said, “MassCourts is designed to benefit Massachusetts residents by making the delivery of justice more efficient, timely, accountable and accessible to all. When the project is finished, the Massachusetts Trial Court will be a national leader in court information technology.”

            The Leadership Conference, the third in a series, brought together Chief Justices, court administrators, clerks, probation officers, and other court representatives to further plans for the implementation of MassCourts.

            “I am pleased to announce the beginning of the implementation of MassCourts,” Chief Justice Dortch-Okara said, “and I am grateful to the managers and staff of the Trial Court Information Technology Project, Information Technology Department, and all the judges and employees who have worked extremely hard over the last several years to bring us to this phase. We have made exceptional progress.”

            MassCourts will fully integrate case information from all trial courts throughout the Commonwealth by replacing fifteen existing legacy systems. The project, funded through a $75 million bond bill authorized by the Legislature in 1995, is expected to be completed in 2006.

            The Boston Municipal Court was selected as the first Trial Court department to implement MassCourts because of its size and suitability for the training program that will accompany installation of the technology.  Eventually 4,000 judges and administrative, clerical, and probation staff throughout the Trial Court will be given at least three days of training on how to use the system.

            “The staff of the Boston Municipal Court are very adept at using the interim information technology systems,” said Superior Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman, the Information Technology Project Executive who is leading the Project’s team.  “MassCourts is a faster, more robust, and more functional system than our current legacy systems. It will not only enhance the processing of all cases in the Trial Court, but it will also be capable of accommodating growing demands,” he said.

            The Internet-based system will provide the public, attorneys, and members of the court community greater access to case information, in accordance with the Supreme Judicial Court’s policy governing court records on the Internet. Court administrators also will have a powerful management tool for tracking individual cases as they progress through the system, and for compiling and analyzing statewide court data.

           Since January, when the Administrative Office of the Trial Court selected Maximus Justice Solutions of Canton, Ohio, to provide the MassCourts software, Trial Court judges and staff have been working closely with company representatives to finalize the system’s approximately 1,800 functional requirements. The IT Project is currently bringing together Trial Court user groups and Maximus personnel to design the hundreds of on-line forms necessary to capture case information for every case filed in the Trial Court.