Court Automation Tools

The Paperless Court

For Judges

Revolutionizing your shared services by providing employees complete views of critical information.

For Clerks

Serving the public better by moving data, not paper throughout your court.

For Prosecution

Responding to constituents faster by evolving your services to become more efficient and transparent.

For Court Admins

Increasing the power of your systems by linking them to electronic workflows.

We’ve Always Been in the Efficiency Business

A component-model blueprint developed on the feedback of various judges, court clerks and admins, there was a lot of say-so that went into ImageSoft’s Paperless Court Solution. Today, it’s a trusted system successfully supporting several courts throughout the nation, and the talk continues to circulate. Take a listen as a few customers share their stories of implementing and working in a truly paperless court.

The accelerating momentum of our nation’s court system is a win that can be attributed to the elevated standards of what it truly means to be a digitally transformed, modern-day court. Challenged to communicate with external state agencies, serve an increasingly sophisticated public, integrate with necessary case management systems and adapt to each courts’ individual needs, these gauges for court effectiveness are outpacing the limited capabilities of the traditional, monolithic systems approach and re-engineering a more transparent, communicative and results-driven path to justice.   

The blueprints of our core court solution account for a holistic view of the justice process. Equipping each court with the components they need, whether it is an automated workflow, eFiling or eBench capability, or electronic records for appeals, the solution respects the unique challenges and needs of different court types and follows in step with the widely-adaptable Component Model. Also able to integrate with any case management systems or external state agencies, this highly configurable approach not only meets the individual requisites of various case types but also transcends case-type lines by allowing one type of court to seamlessly work with another, such as when a probate court needs to work with the juvenile court. 

With a high-level introduction to our component-model methodology, let’s now take a closer look at the digital transformation’s specific advantages to your court type and the overflowing advances to the entire justice community.

Leveraging Your Solution Across All Case Types

As most court clerks can attest to, assembling and sending court cases from lower to higher courts is a time-consuming process. Constructing paper case files according to specific court rules is labor intensive, and that’s not including the ping-pong that will ensue between the two courts over the case’s structure, missing information or documents.

By automating case assembly, court clerks enjoy consistent structure while reducing risk for human error. Designed by clerks for clerks, CaseShare is a purpose-built application that can stand alone, or seamlessly integrate with the court’s case and document management systems, for consistent case transfer strategy from start to finish. Thanks to features like pre-populated Table of Contents, full text-searches, page rotations, automated page numbers, watermarking and more, the digitally transformed assembly process chops the time spent on routine footwork to only a few hours. Once the case file is tied together, the entire electronic case file is sent to the higher court with a one-click transfer.

Take a closer look at the CaseShare solution that truly appeals to all by visiting our webpage on electronic records for appeals.

Civil cases are one of the most paper-intensive case types, which is why most courts start their digital transformation here. To increase efficiency and improve constituent service, innovative courts often automate simple, high-volume cases to free up skilled human resources for more complex cases. Resource utilization is increased when workload is distributed across locations and jurisdictions.

Court productivity is further enhanced by sharing cases with outside facilitators to support Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Integral to online ADR is OnBase’s digital cloud storage and workflow. Real-time status updates, electronic signatures and automatic notifications keep parties on the same page throughout the mediation process. Coupled with electronic filing (eFiling), the entire ADR process can be digitalized.

The budget and safety conscious nature of criminal justice thrives under the court’s systematic, controlled approach to protecting the public. The old-adage “justice delayed is justice denied” especially holds true for people that have been victimized. The court’s capacity to best serve justice only becomes stronger when technology is used to speed up criminal case processing.

The electronic case file repository is at the heart of every eCourt solution, and adding simple workflow and forms processing to the mix only allows courts to prepare and adjudicate criminal cases faster. Core to criminal case processing, the electronic arraignment (eArraignment) component streamlines packet creation, data capture, and document distribution to jail, clerk and other offices. It also empowers police with a mobile tablet for verifying and updating information, which gives them greater insight to highlight specific points or fact check an instance the Judge may question.

Assisting with cases involving paternity, enforcement, custody, and parenting time, safeguarding information is a top priority for Child Support Enforcement (CSE) offices. Our solution, which includes standard integration with the state’s CMS, secures all sensitive information within the electronic case file. Access to the case file is further protected against conflict of interest cases within the CSE team. Electronic routing of documents, photos and all other materials to the case worker, enforcement specialist and others within the office, follows court-defined rules. Show-cause hearings are more effective, with the time it takes to create, process and serve orders dramatically reduced. Due to this improved efficiency, the CSE office can schedule more hearings without adding additional staff.

With pro se litigation on the rise, we recommend using self-guided interview technology, such as A2J Author (Access To Justice), to help filers complete forms and improve constituent satisfaction.

A leader in setting troubled youth on a course for success, the juvenile court requires a secure, streamlined process for collaborating with the prosecutor’s office, law enforcement, probation and other judicial units. Implementing a paperless solution provides transparency throughout the life cycle of a case to help ensure the due process rights of those involved are met while protecting the community’s safety. Our electronic solution leverages CJIS compliant standards to safeguard sensitive case information. Integration with the court’s CMS keeps case data and documents in sync, contributing to more efficient case flow management, while robust workflow securely distributes work to appropriate court and clerk staff.

Courts can further enhance the safety and efficiency of their first appearance process by installing the electronic arraignment (eArraignment) component. This streamlined solution saves time and money by automatically creating and merging data into the arraignment packet and electronically signing and distributing documents out to the defendant, jail, clerk and other offices.

Despite being a highly pro se litigant-oriented process, probate is one of the most complex practices to navigate. Once digitally transformed, however, it’s simple to keep probate in motion with just a few clicks. Equipped with an intuitive forms designer, courts easily digitalize each various form type. Data collection is further simplified with rules-based processing, auto-indexing, secure electronic data storage, and an automated workflow – all of which mitigate the risk of human error. Coupling the solution with electronic filing further reduces the amount of paper that is processed, and seamless integration with your case management systems (CMS) minimizes training and user adoption.

Further explore our Paperless Probate Solution with a short “ImageSoft Stories” video and infographic, and even request a demo, by visiting our Paperless Probate webpage.

With thousands of traffic incidents occurring daily, only a reliable behind-the-scenes process can be entrusted to move each individual case along. Sometimes, it’s a routine traffic stop for someone with a clean driving record, and he or she only needs to pay the ticket online – nothing more. Other times, a traffic stop results in both a traffic violation and a criminal charge – two tickets umbrellaed under two different court types. In the context of our court solution, the presiding officer writes an electronic ticket, which is integrated with and routed to the courts’ case management system (CMS) and updated with incident details. A document management system (DMS) is also used to easily access driving records, criminal histories and other evidence. Once at the hearing, decisions are made using a drop-down list, and the disposition form is routed to cashier and clerk.

Court Solution Functionality

Automated Workflow

  • Streamlines instantaneous communications across all court types and with external agencies
  • Integrates with existing case and records management systems and court calendars
  • Reporting dashboards and full audit trails ensure unparalleled transparency and accountability
  • Highly configurable rules are adaptable to meet current and future needs
  • All case files are digitalized and accessible to appropriate parties from any remote location with secure internet access
  • 360-degree view of case statuses with real-time updates and notifications

Electronic Filing

  • Self-serving ability to create new cases, search existing ones and/or add new filings
  • Around-the-clock digital filing makes it convenient for filers to get their cases filed from anywhere with secure internet access
  • Real-time processing updates hold courts accountable and result in faster turnaround
  • Multi-jurisdictional case filings keep filers on track with each of their court’s individual CMS, fees and/or case types
  • Full-text searches equip clerks with ability to quickly and easily find documents

 

 

 

Electronic Bench

  • Judge receives a full, digital case-file view of their daily docket 
  • Customized dashboard that fits the unique flow of the Judge’s courtroom  
  • Electronic signatures via laptop or signature pad allow judges to keep up with signing orders from wherever (s)he is 
  • High-speed, full-text searches for all scanned, eFiled, and/or imported documents 
  • Bookmark, annotate and time stamp key pages, and then set permissions for which parties have access 
  • The “related cases” function allows judges to quickly search and validate case information at the hearing 

Digital Evidence Management

  • Scalable to any size enterprise and can be deployed as a complete Cloud solution
  • Upload and store files large and small, including cell phone data exports, video, audio, images, scanned documents, and more

  • Normalize many of the most common native formats into files that can be consumed on almost any device

  • Store data in the secure Microsoft Azure Government Cloud and integrate with new or existing Case Management Systems

  • In-platform sharing uses government-grade encryption to ensure a compliant and secure transfer of knowledge

“I can tell you 100 percent, my people would never want to go back to
the old way of doing things — never, never, never.”

—Steve Kraai, Director of Records, Ottawa County Sherriff’s Office

“Whatever makes you more efficient, saves court staff time, reduces the occurrence of missing files, and speeds up the delivery of orders to those who must abide by them, just as a paperless court has done for us, improves the quality of justice.”

— Jon. A Van Allsburg, Judge, 20th Circuit Court

“Our accountability and productivity have increased at many levels, and we can now prosecute a high-volume caseload with 20 percent fewer staff than just a few years ago.”

— William Paul Nichols, Prosecutor, Monroe County, MI