Using the proceeds of a Federal grant, the Indiana Supreme Court has acquired and delivered 11 e-ticket scanners and 11 printers to the Carmel Police Department, Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard announced today. The scanners and printers will allow the department to expand the number of officers using the Court’s e-ticket program.
Under the Court’s electronic citation and warning system (“e-ticket”), police use hand-held scanners to create traffic citations and electronically send them to the court, rather than writing and delivering tickets by hand. Portable printers allow police to give drivers a paper copy of the citation. The Carmel Police Department and Carmel City Court have been using e-tickets since June 2010.
Carmel City Court Judge Brian Poindexter requested the Supreme Court’s help in securing the additional equipment for the Carmel city police. “This is a win for Carmel’s police, for Carmel’s court, and for the safety of Carmel’s people,” Judge Poindexter said. “For example, police officers spend less time on the side of the road exposed to danger and, because the tickets are filed electronically with the court, court employees save time by not having to enter data by hand,” he explained.
Watch a Video of the Event (Windows Media Player)
Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard expressed appreciation to the Supreme Court and Judge Poindexter. “Judge Poindexter has worked hard to bring this new technology to Carmel to improve our work processes and reduce spending. The reduction in court costs coupled with the fact that Judge Poindexter worked with the Supreme Court to secure equipment through grant funding saves Carmel taxpayers money.”
Assistant Carmel Police Chief Jim Barlow added that “this new equipment will help our officers work more efficiently and accurately, which translates into more time for patrolling, assisting the public and solving crimes. We also appreciate the fact that the Supreme Court was able to fund this equipment with a grant so that there was no cost to Carmel taxpayers for this improved service.”
Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., who chairs the Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) that developed e-ticket, congratulated the Carmel city administration and Judge Poindexter for “bringing 21st century technology to bear on behalf of the court, law enforcement, and the people of Carmel.” Sullivan also expressed his appreciation to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, a state executive branch agency, for securing Federal funds in the amount of $54,000 that were used to purchase this and equipment previously-supplied to Carmel.
E-ticket is part of the Supreme Court’s multi-year project to equip all Indiana courts and clerks with a 21st century computer system called Odyssey to manage cases. Courts pay no license fees or annual maintenance costs for Odyssey; information on cases in Odyssey is available at no cost to the public on the web. The Hamilton County courts in Noblesville and the Carmel City Court are leaders in this project, having installed Odyssey in 2009.
INFORMATION ON JTAC PROJECTS
E-Ticket
- The Indiana State Police and 210 Indiana law-enforcement agencies use scanners to issue traffic citations and warnings using computer software written by JTAC.
- JTAC has installed software that sends notification of the resolution of traffic cases to the BMV electronically in every Indiana court with traffic infraction jurisdiction.
- Since the 2008 inception of e-ticket, almost 3,000,000 electronic citations and warnings have been issued.
Odyssey
- Odyssey is operating in 83 Indiana courts in 27 counties as of March 1, 2011.
- Approximately 30% of all the new cases filed in Indiana are in Odyssey.
- The traffic courts in four of Indiana’s five largest counties, including the busiest court in the state (Marion County Traffic Court), use Odyssey.
- Odyssey is a leading national case management system with special Indiana features for clerks’ financial duties and probation officers’ caseloads.
- A statewide license to install Odyssey in all Indiana courts and clerks’ offices was acquired for $7.7 million after a competitive procurement involving judges, clerks, and IT professionals from throughout the state.
- Currently, there are 21 different case management systems statewide and these systems do not communicate with each other. Five counties used typewriters and/or scroll books to manage court records before Odyssey.
Other JTAC Projects
- All 92 Indiana counties have access to a statewide master jury list created by JTAC.
- When judges in all 92 counties issue domestic violence protection orders, JTAC technology is used to notify local law enforcement, Indiana State Police, and the FBI.
- Juvenile and Adult probation officers, specialty courts, and department of correction officers in 92 counties are required to use Indiana’s new risk assessment software developed by the Indiana Judicial Center and JTAC to determine the level of risk for offenders and identify what treatment plan is appropriate.
- Sixty-seven Indiana counties and the Department of Health use JTAC technology to eliminate the manual entry of marriage licenses.
- Forty-seven Indiana counties and the Department of Revenue use JTAC technology to eliminate the manual entry of tax warrants.
- Juvenile probation officers use JTAC technology to notify the Department of Child Services electronically of juveniles in delinquency cases who are eligible for DCS-financed services.
- Indiana trial courts use JTAC technology to notify the FBI electronically of all mental health adjudications required to be included in the FBI criminal background check system.
Awards
- Best Practices Award by the Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals.
- The Governors Highway Safety Association Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Award.
- A National Center for State Courts G. Thomas Munsterman Award for Jury Innovations.
- 2010 Innovations Award from The Council of State Governments.
Republished from courts.IN.gov/press/2011/0304.html.