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Massachusetts Trial Court Installs Case Management System

Boston Municipal Court Department automates legacy systems.

BOSTON -- Chief Justice for Administration and Management Robert A. Mulligan announced that the Massachusetts Trial Court will implement a pilot of a new integrated case management systems called MassCourts. In November, the Criminal Division of the Boston Municipal Court began using the system, which features electronic filing of criminal complaints, warrant processing extensive docketing and scheduling, and management reporting.

The software will collapse 15 independent legacy systems currently in use in each of the Trial Court Departments into one central case management system to enable all Trial Court Departments and divisions to have common functionality and the ability to communicate with one another.

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, and in all Plymouth County courts later in the spring, and then in all Trial Court departments throughout the state.

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 will also have a management tool for tracking individual cases as they progress through the system, and for compiling and analyzing statewide data.
Miriam Jones is a former chief copy editor of Government Technology, Governing, Public CIO and Emergency Management magazines.