CRIMINAL SECTION’S NEW IMAGING PROJECTS WILL PROVIDE
PERMANENT BENEFITS IN RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND STORAGE
In addition to its usual activities providing criminal courts with clerks, processing writs and other documents related to criminal cases, maintaining criminal records and evidence, collecting criminal fines and other numerous activities that are traditionally part of this section, the Criminal part of the District Clerk’s office is undergoing profound technological changes.
Following the successful initiation of imaging all court documents in the civil and family courts, criminal courts documents are now part of that office-wide project, with the ultimate goal of imaged documents replacing the current paper process. Initially, criminal documents will be processed in much the same way civil and family have been to date. Documents filed with the Criminal Department will be converted into electronic documents and indexed into a document management system called Onbase.
The process of imaging documents has begun in magistrates’ courts as clerks scan all Probable Cause Affidavits or PCAs. Procedures to create electronic documents within the Adult Information System (AIS), such as indictments and other magistrate related instruments, are currently beingr developed to meet specific needs of these courts.
A phased approach will be taken within the next few months, beginning with indictments. The initial benefit will be apparent within a few months as the indictments develop a solid base of retrievable documents within Onbase.
In addition to efficiency in managing court cases, another objective of the imaging program is to address the critical issues of storage space and record retention. While the department’s retention schedule, clearly outlined by the State Library and Archives Commission, allows the clerk’s office to dispose of exhibits after the expiration of its retention period, issues have arisen with their destruction.
New trials being granted years after the final judgment, especially after the development of more accurate DNA methods, is the primary challenge in destroying criminal evidence. Therefore, the District Clerk has decided to image all criminal trial exhibits prior to destruction. This process will reduce the amount of physical storage space needed while maintaining a reproducible image of the trial exhibits, if future needs arise.
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