Massachusetts
Trial Court Installs MassCourts
in Boston Municipal Court Department
Boston — Chief
Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan
today announced that the Massachusetts Trial Court took a
significant step towards automation by successfully implementing
a pilot version of its new comprehensive, integrated case
management system called MassCourts. This
week the Criminal Division of the Boston Municipal Court
began using the modern computer system, which features electronic
filing of criminal complaints, warrant processing, extensive
docketing and scheduling, and management reporting.
“The
administration of justice will be facilitated with the assistance
of this modern, robust electronic tool at a time when court
resources are otherwise scarce, and the need for swift and
steady decision making is in demand. With MassCourts,
the Judiciary will be better equipped to provide fast, accurate
information services to the bar and the citizens of the Commonwealth, ” said
Chief Justice Mulligan.
MassCourts will
collapse fifteen independent, legacy systems currently in
use in each of the Trial Court Departments into one robust
central case management system to enable all Trial Court
Departments and divisions to have common functionality and
the ability to communicate with one another. MassCourts is
a statewide comprehensive case management system that will
be the largest and most complex statewide court computer
system in the country.
“I
commend the Boston Municipal Court for accepting the formidable
task of working out the logistics of automating the complex
and difficult processes of court business. The staff of
the Boston Municipal Court have worked closely with the Administrative
Office of the Trial Court to make this initial installation
a resounding success,” said Superior Court Judge Timothy
S. Hillman, the Information Technology Project Executive,
who is leading the Project’s team.
The MassCourts project
is funded through a $75 million bond bill authorized by the
Legislature in 1995, and is scheduled to be completed in
2006. Following implementation in the Boston Municipal Court, MassCourts will
be installed in the Land Court in early 2004, in all the
courts in Plymouth County later in the spring, and then in
all Trial Court departments throughout the Commonwealth.
Since
1995, much progress has been made throughout the Trial Court
to prepare the courts for a new integrated system, including
the purchase of more that 4,000 computers, the development
of an infrastructure that includes central servers, and wide
and local area networks, the development of web-related applications,
including a public web site (www.state.ma.us/courts), and
an intranet site which includes systemwide e-mail. A key
web-related application developed by the Trial Court provides
for the Boston Police Department to electronically file applications
for criminal complaints with the Boston Municipal Court.
“The
Boston Municipal Court Department is pleased and excited
to be the first court in the Commonwealth to experience the
robust functionality of MassCourts. We hope
that our efforts will facilitate the speedy implementation
of MassCourts throughout the Commonwealth,” said
Chief Justice Charles Johnson of the Boston Municipal Court.
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.
Representative
Eugene O’Flaherty, House of Representatives Chairman of the
Joint Committee on the Judiciary, said, “MassCourts is
a welcome addition to the Trial Court of the Commonwealth.
The Boston Municipal Court has again demonstrated its ability
to be innovative in serving the interests of the entire Trial
Court by successfully implementing this important pilot system. This
system will allow the Boston Municipal Court to better manage
its judicial functions and data storage needs. I look forward
to the Trial Court following the Boston Municipal Court’s
lead when MassCourts is fully implemented throughout
the state.”
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.
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