Okaloosa County BOCC — June 3, 2014 — Agenda — reading text

CIRCUIT COURT M.C. BLANCHARD JUDICIAL BUILDING FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF FLORIDA 190 GOVERNMENTAL CENTER PENSACOLA, FLORIDA 32502 ______ CRAIG VAN BRUSSEL COURT TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Telephone (850) 595-4406 Fax (850) 595-0436 craig.vanbrussel@flcourts1.gov _______ ROBIN WRIGHT COURT ADMINISTRATOR MEMO TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Robin Wright, Trial Court Administrator DATE: May 29, 2014 RE: Court Administration - Reserve IT Funds Request in the Amount of $109,150 (Allocated: Hardware $70,600 – Operating $35,800 – Salary 2,750) STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Court Administration is requesting funds from the Court Technology Reserve Fund to upgrade its network, storage, and IT Systems Analyst position to support the judge’s new paperless file system. The State of Florida has purchased the software, servers, installation, and training to implement a paperless court process in Okaloosa County. The software, aiSmartBench, commonly referred to as a “Judicial Viewer”, allows the judges to view and manage their court files electronically. Judges will be able to electronically review and search cases, transmit documents to the clerk, work remotely, and digitally sign orders. All of these electronic enhancements will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Okaloosa County court system. The additional reserve funds are needed to upgrade the court’s storage capacity and network speed as well as their IT support position to handle the increased technical responsibilities this new paperless court system will generate. BACKGROUND: In 2009, the Florida Legislature mandated electronic filing of court documents and established deadlines for compliance. The electronic filing requirement first went into effect for the Supreme Court and District Court of Appeals on October 1, 2012. The requirement for civil, probate, small claims, and family law courts were April 1, 2013. And the deadline for criminal, traffic, and juvenile courts were October 1, 2013. Electronic filing granted the Clerk of Court the opportunity to go paperless, saving resources, funds, staff time, and increasing efficiency. However, with the Clerk going paperless it requires that the court have some electronic means to manage, retrieve, view, edit, and send these electronic documents back to the Clerk. The installation of the aiSmartBench “Judicial Viewer” will meet these needs for the court. 1 The Florida Legislature appropriated to the State Court System an allocation from the National Mortgage Foreclosure Settlement Funds for the implementation of “Judicial Viewers” across the state. Okaloosa County was allocated $211,104 of those state funds for its ten judges and magistrate. Those funds will purchase the aiSmartBench servers, licensing, document data conversion, installation, and training for court and clerk staff. Additional funding (Hardware $70,600 – Operating $35,800) is needed from the Court Technology Reserve Fund to upgrade the Court’s IT infrastructure in order to handle this mission critical application. The reserve funds will purchase network storage for the electronic documents, PC’s for the courtroom and chambers, upgraded switching gear for faster delivery of court documents, network firewalls, UPS’s, and backup system. In addition, we are requesting salary funds ($2,750 for the remainder of the FY) from the Court Technology Reserve fund to upgrade the court’s vacant Systems Analyst position (currently paying $40,000/year) to a Senior Systems Analyst position (starting salary $46,000/ year). Advanced IT skills will be needed to operate and maintain the court’s new paperless environment and retention of qualified IT professionals for this position has been difficult at the current salary level. This is the courts only IT support staff in Okaloosa County and has been vacated three times in the last three years. This high turnover rate has disrupted court operations with its constant retraining and knowledge loss. All previous employees left for higher paying IT positions. 2