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.