When the current Judicial Branch automated case management system was built, Jimmy Carter had just completed his presidency and the Court of Appeals did not yet exist. Times have changed and our computer system cannot keep up. It is out-of-date, poorly integrated and difficult to use. It was built to warehouse - not retrieve - data, hampering policy evaluations or public requests. For example, a 2001 Legislative Auditor's report said that about 62 percent of chronic offenders are convicted in multiple counties. However, "information on criminal activity is scattered among several databases, making it difficult to compile a complete criminal history of each offender."
But we are poised to initiate major change. The Minnesota Court Information System (MNCIS) will serve as the anchor tenant of the state's new CriMNet integrated criminal justice information project.
MNCIS will link court records across the state and significantly improve the collection, storage, retrieval, tracking, and sharing of court information.
Early in 2003, Carver County District Court unveiled MNCIS, put it to use for the first time and tested critical CriMNet linkages. MNCIS will soon be implemented in five additional pilot counties. Eventually, all 87 counties in the state will use the system to link court records.
Also in 2002, the MNCIS Project Team and Supreme Court Information Technology Division unveiled Court Web Access, which provides the courts with Web access to statewide, comprehensive information on criminal court cases. It allows access to non-confidential adult felony and gross misdemeanor defendant information in one, multiple or all counties statewide through a single search. Court Web Access was released internally to court personnel and will soon be available to other criminal justice agencies.
Washington County District Court collaborated with law enforcement agencies in 2001 to launch a new virtually paperless Automated Citation System, believed to be the first of its kind in the country. Police officers use mobile data terminals and printers in their squad cars to issue citations. Ticket information is sent electronically to police computers, and then is forwarded to court computers along with driving records and officers' notes. The only paper produced is given to the driver as a record of the violation.
The system is expected to:
Hennepin and Ramsey counties designed ViBES (Violations Bureau Electronic System), which was installed in Ramsey in 2001 for parking tickets and in Hennepin in 2002 for all citations. ViBES links court and law enforcement computers, and allows for:
Sherburne County District Court unveiled the first state-of-the-art trial environment in the Minnesota Judicial Branch in spring 2002. The e-courtroom makes the court more connected, efficient and accountable. Flat-screen monitors allow court participants to easily view evidence, photographs, videos, and computer presentations. Interactive television links the courtroom to an adjoining witness/victim room for off-site testimony and to the Sherburne County Jail Video Visitation Center.
In 2002, the courts began providing more than 200 court forms online, which will increase citizens' access to justice. Other information added to the Judicial Branch web site includes Minnesota attorney registration information in a searchable index and the Minnesota Rules of Court. Visit the site at www.courts.state.mn.us.