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Monday, January 11, 2010

Ind. Law - What is the genesis of SB 60?

Senate Bill 60, which, according to the digest:

Creates the judicial computer systems commission to evaluate court and law enforcement computer systems and the judicial technology and automation project.
was introduced by Senator Steele and has been referred to the legislative Committee on Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters. The next meeting of that committee, which is chaired by Senator Steele and is made up of members M. Young R.M., Bray, Delph, Head, Waterman, Waltz, Hume R.M.M., Lanane, Tallian, Taylor, will be Tues., Jan 12th at 8:30 am. SB 60 is not on tomorrow's agenda.

The digest or SB 60 also indicates that "The introduced version of this bill was prepared by the sentencing policy study committee." That led me to review the minutes of the Sentencing Policy Committee to see the discussion of the Committee's proposal. The Oct. 29, 2009 minutes, for the last 2009 meeting of the Committee, cover the genesis of SB 60 -- discussion begins at p. 3:

Senator Steele introduced the issue of a legislative oversight board for the computer systems used in the criminal justice field. He passed out a handout on the subject. (Exhibit B)

Ms. Peggy Mayfield, the Morgan County Clerk, and Ms. Bev Elliott, the LaGrange County Clerk, spoke about their experiences in maintaining court records. They noted that they are not satisfied with the Odyssey system and that it is only used in 39 of 400 courts and 13 of 92 counties. Both Morgan and LaGrange Counties use other computer systems and they are satisfied with those systems. They noted that they would like to interface with Odyssey. These counties pay fees to the state for Odyssey even though they do not use it. Also, the system that they use has features that are not available in the Odyssey system.

Mr. Kevin Cook of CSI Computer Systems Inc. and Mr. Nick Bankhauser of Doxpop spoke about the advantages of using third-party record management systems. The system that CSI has in many counties in the state is less costly than the implementation of Odyssey has been thus far. Responding to questioning from Senator Steele, Mr. Cook said that CSI must remain competitive in the marketplace, and that forces his company to offer services at a low price. He noted that it costs under $100,000 to implement his system in most counties and that for all of his counties his total yearly maintenance charges are approximately $700,000.

Ms. Mary DePrez, the Director and Counsel of Trial Court Technology, explained that many of the cost estimates that are used for the Odyssey system are larger than the actual costs. She shared the advantages of Odyssey and noted the value of having one statewide system to manage court records.

The committee discussed the merits of Odyssey and the accomplishments of JTAC. Senator Steele outlined the composition of the commission that he suggested in Exhibit B. This proposal would create the Judicial Computer Systems Commission to evaluate court computer systems and the judicial technology and automation project. On voice vote, the committee members added the executive director of the Public Defenders Council and a representative from the DOC to this proposed commission.

The PD was moved and passed by a roll call vote of 10-6.

Exhibit B is found on pp. 5-6 of the minutes and appears to be the same as the text of SB 60. Unfortunately, I was unaware that the Sentencing Committee would be taking up Odyssey last October, or I would have made an effort to attend and take notes.

How does this recommendation tie in with the recommendation of the Commission on Courts to raise the automated recordkeeping fee, which funds JTAC, from $7 to $10 per case filed? I was able to attend the meeting of the interim Courts Commission last fall where this increase, and the whole Odyssey program, was discussed. I have finally transcribed my extensive notes and hope to post them shortly.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 11, 2010 03:35 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Law