WTHI TV in Terre Haute recently reported on Parke County’s deployment with Odyssey. From WTHI:
“To go from really the 19th century way of doing things to the 21st century way of doing things in one fell swoop is extremely gratifying,” said Frank Sullivan of the Indiana Supreme Court.
Andrea Ladig enters the first ticket for New Haven as JTAC Staffer Debra Weatherholt watches.
Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan Jr. announced the New Haven City Court’s inclusion in the state’s Odyssey computer system yesterday. As Rebecca Green from the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette pointed out, the court is the latest Indiana court to connect to the new case management system provided by the Indiana Supreme Court.
The Journal Gazette goes on to say:
The upgrade to courts’ case management systems allows information collected by courts to be shared online and made available to anyone.
As courts go online, their information becomes part of a shared database, available to anyone for free on the Internet.
Odyssey also connect to the e-Ticket program, which will eventually be used throughout the state. It is currently in use by the Indiana State Police, which writes many traffic tickets through the New Haven City Court. The court handles more than 12,000 cases some years.
Ashley Smith from the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel had this to say:
New Haven City Court has been using the Odyssey system since June 15 and is still operating its old system for files prior to that date. The City of New Haven joins counties such as DeKalb, Marion and Monroe who already have Odyssey.
New Haven City Court Judge Geoff Robison said the program works extremely well. “You never know what you don’t have until you have it,” he said. “Its efficiencies are amazing. It’s really done a lot.”
Clerk’s Offices in Indiana now have a new, easy-to-use website for searching record retention schedules, which will hopefully save clerk staff a little bit of time and a little bit of frustration when they manage local records. Because court recordkeeping is a primary responsibility of each county clerk’s office in Indiana, the Indiana Supreme Court-through its Division of State Court Administration and Judicial Technology and Automation Committee staff-has created a retention schedules website that makes finding retention information much easier than the old method of flipping through pages in a printed book or document.
To view the retention schedules website, go to mycourts.IN.gov/ar7.
By default, all of the retention schedules are displayed in a sortable table, with 25 records per page across 14 pages. Users can filter the list by jurisdiction and case type using the menus at the top of the table under the “Browse” tab; or they can click the “Search” tab to view a text field where they can enter search terms. Retention schedules will be kept current if and when amendments are made to Administrative Rule 7.
The Protection Order Registry is taking another major step towards helping Hoosiers obtain Protection Orders when they have been victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse, or stalking. Effective tomorrow, July 1, JTAC is beginning a pilot program that allows Victim’s Advocates to assist petitioners to complete an on line petition and confidential form to be filed with the County Clerk. An information and announcement meeting was held on June 26 for the pilot counties. Representatives from Allen, Elkhart, Grant, Madison, Marion, Tippecanoe, and Wabash counties’ domestic violence shelters and County Clerks offices attended the meeting.
Justice Frank Sullivan Jr. opened the meeting by announcing that the Protection Order Registry will be state wide as of July 1. He expressed his thanks to all the people that worked to make the Registry the success that it has become. He specifically mentioned the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute for their assistance in obtaining the grant money to fund the project and the County Clerks as they bear the brunt of the additional work to get the cases initiated in the Registry.
JTAC Director Mary DePrez also expressed her thanks to everyone involved in the Protection Order Registry implementation and went on to announce the new Protection Order Registry Public Access project. LaJuan Epperson, the Protection Order Registry Project Manager, explained the details of the application and how it interfaces with the Registry. A demonstration of the new application and interface followed. The information captured in the new application is imported directly into the Protection Order Registry which initiates the case and reduces the data entry required by the Clerks or Courts.
Agencies included in the pilot are: the Allen County YWCA, the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office Victim’s Advocate, Hands of Hope in Madison County, Alternatives, Inc. in Madison County, the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Julian Center in Marion County, the Indianapolis Police Department Domestic Violence Unit, the Tippecanoe County YWCA, the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office Victim’s Advocate, the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office Victim’s Advocate, Elkhart County Family Services, the Marion Police Department, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
July is fast approaching and the countdown for statewide deployment of the Protection Order Registry is on. With five new counties live, four more trained and three additional counties scheduled for training during June, the state is positioned to be in compliance with HB 1578 by July 1st. Clinton, Decatur, Elkhart, Gibson and Warrick Counties are the five latest counties to implement the POR.
Decatur went live on June 5th; Clinton, Gibson and Elkhart all went live on June 15th and Warrick went live June 24th . Dubois, Franklin, Ripley and Newton have received their training and are scheduled to go live on July 1st. Allen, Bartholomew and Switzerland are scheduled for training and are expected to go live on July 1st with the remaining counties.
The New Haven City Court is using a new 21st century computer system provided by the Indiana Supreme Court. The system, known as “Odyssey” connects the New Haven City Court to other counties’ courts, law enforcement, and state agencies, and makes court information available to the public. Judge Geoff Robison and Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., will answer questions about the system and explain why Odyssey is an improvement for court staff, law enforcement, and taxpayers.
TUESDAY, JUNE 30TH
1:00 p.m. EDT
New Haven City Council Chambers, 1st Floor Administration Side
815 Lincoln Highway East
New Haven, Indiana 46774
Odyssey’s connection to the electronic Citation and Warning System (eCWS) also known as e-Ticket is of crucial importance to court management. In 2007, approximately 11,000 traffic tickets were filed in the New Haven City Court. With Odyssey, the New Haven City Court can now receive electronic traffic tickets written by the Indiana State Police, the New Haven Police Department, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department, the Monroeville Police Department, and the Woodburn Police Department. The court is also able to send the e-Ticket data to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) after court action.
Media will be able see the e-Ticket system which allows law enforcement officers to use a hand held device to scan a bar code on a driver’s license to instantly create a traffic ticket and file it with New Haven City Court. The briefing will allow time for reporter stand-ups and teases to demonstrate how e-Ticket and Odyssey works. Scheduled ride-alongs with a participating law enforcement agency can also be arranged. To attend the news conference or to make arrangements for a ride-along contact Supreme Court Public Information Officer, Kathryn Dolan at kdolan@courts.state.in.us.
“The New Haven Court is the second city court in the state to install this computerized case management system,” explained Justice Sullivan. “Judge Robison should be congratulated for being a leader in bringing new technology to the Allen County courts. This is an instrumental step in helping our court system run more efficiently for the citizens we serve.”
Judge Robison expressed his appreciation to the Supreme Court for including New Haven City Court as an early adopter of the new court computer system. “I am thrilled that the Indiana Supreme Court helped us install this new case management system in Allen County. Not only will Odyssey help us manage the 11,000 traffic tickets we handle each year, but it allows us to reduce paperwork which can save money. Daily tasks, like searching for a defendant’s case is more efficient with this system.”
Odyssey was first installed in ten Indiana courts on a pilot basis in December 2007 under the direction of the Division of State Court Administration’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC). It is part of the Court’s effort to equip every Indiana court with a 21st-century case management system and connect courts with each other and state agencies. Courts pay no installation costs, training costs, license fees, or annual maintenance costs for Odyssey. Those costs are paid by JTAC from the proceeds of a court filing fee dedicated to the project by the General Assembly.
Odyssey is now operating in 25 Indiana courts in nine counties, including the Marion County traffic court, the busiest court in the state. These courts comprise approximately 16% of all the cases filed in Indiana. Odyssey is scheduled to be installed in many additional courts soon. Information on cases in Odyssey is available at no cost to the public on the web by visiting http://courts.IN.gov.
The Parke Circuit Court and Parke County Clerk’s office is using a new 21st century computer system provided by the Indiana Supreme Court. The system, known as “Odyssey” connects the Parke County Court and Clerk offices to other counties’ courts, law enforcement, and state agencies, and makes court information available to the public. Judge Samuel Swaim, Clerk Kimberly Shorter and Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., will answer questions about the system and explain why Odyssey is an improvement for court staff, law enforcement, and taxpayers.
MONDAY, JUNE 29TH at 11:30 a.m. EDT
Parke County Circuit Court
116 W. High Street
Rockville, Indiana 47872
With Odyssey, the Parke County Clerk is able to receive electronic traffic tickets “written” by the Indiana State Police and other local law enforcement agencies. Parke County Circuit Court is also able to send electronic information on traffic cases to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). “The Parke County Circuit Court is one of the first counties in the state to install this computerized case management system,” explained Justice Sullivan. “I look forward to congratulating Parke County court leaders in person, especially Judge Swaim, Clerk Shorter, and their staffs for their leadership in using court technology.”
Judge Swain expressed his appreciation to the Supreme Court for including Parke County as an early adopter of the new court computer system. “I am delighted that the Indiana Supreme Court worked with Parke County officials to install this new case management system. We are very pleased with the way it is operating and excited about its prospects for speeding the processing of cases and improving public safety.”
Odyssey was first installed in ten Indiana courts on a pilot basis in December 2007 under the direction of the Division of State Court Administration’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC). It is part of the Court’s effort to equip every Indiana court with a 21st-century case management system and connect courts with each other and state agencies. Courts pay no installation costs, training costs, license fees, or annual maintenance costs for Odyssey. Those costs are paid by JTAC from the proceeds of a court filing fee dedicated to the project by the General Assembly.
“The Parke County Circuit Court and Clerk have never been able to afford to transition from typewriters to a computer system. Now, Odyssey allows us to save money by reducing paperwork. Everyday tasks like combining multiple payments for one customer, searching for an account, or printing a receipt are now possible. It helps us manages cases and the collection of fines in a much more efficient manner,” said Clerk Shorter
Odyssey is now operating in 25 Indiana courts in nine counties, including the Marion County traffic court, the busiest court in the state. These courts comprise approximately 16% of all the cases filed in Indiana. Odyssey is scheduled to be installed in many additional courts soon. Information on cases in Odyssey is available at no cost to the public online at http://courts.IN.gov.
JTAC participated in two sessions during the Annual Conference of Circuit Court Clerks held June 9th though June 11th in Indianapolis. During the first session, Mary DePrez, Annette Page, and Keith Berry of JTAC were joined by Becca McDonough, Angie Laux and Dawn Chowning with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). This session covered the SR 16s process between the courts and the BMV. Keith provided a live demonstration of the new enhancements added to the BMV/INcite application developed by JTAC. A question and answer session followed the presentation.
During JTAC’s second session, Mary DePrez and Donna Edgar provided information about the Protection Order Registry, the electronic tax warrant application, jury pool and jury management system, and the marriage license application. Donna presented an overview of Odyssey from a Clerk’s perspective with an in-depth analysis regarding how financials are handled in Odyssey.
Last month developers from Tyler Technologies made the first release of the Supervision Product Center for Odyssey available for testing by JTAC. The features in this early release include drug screen and medication tracking, risk and needs assessments, case activity reporting, sanction and administrative hearing tracking as well as a few other minor features. The next major release for testing is scheduled for early July and will include much of the remaining planned functionality including juvenile referrals, contact management and the ability to add documents to the case such as pre-sentence and pre-dispositional reports.
Parke County started using the Odyssey CMS on June 1. Yesterday, just two weeks after starting to use Odyssey, court and case data from Parke County went online and is now accessible to the public. Public access is provided at no charge and is available at http://courts.IN.gov.
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The JTAC Help Desk is trained to answer questions about any of the JTAC programs and applications, including Odyssey.
The help desk is operational and staff is available on Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM EST daily.
The help desk staff can also answer questions regarding INcite, the Protective Order Registry, the Online Marriage License program and all other JTAC applications. Please use the phone number and email information below to contact the JTAC help desk.