JTAC began the pilot phase of the POR Odyssey interface in March 2010. The interface between the two systems was designed to save time and effort.  DeKalb County has processed 208 transactions on 46 separate orders.  This includes adding parties, creating cases, issuing orders, showing service, and setting hearings.  Technically, those 208 transactions were processed only once, rather than in both systems.  “I have found that it has worked very well and I am already seeing significant advantages to having everything come over from the Protection Order Registry to Odyssey,” said Laura Marchus, Assistant Court Reporter in DeKalb Superior Court II.

According to Marty Grimm, DeKalb County Clerk, “DeKalb County proclaims it a successful interface.”

On Friday, March 19^th, POR Advocate Access training was held at the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.  Representatives from St. Jude House, Porter County Stepping Stone Women’s Shelter and the Lake County Sheriff’s Department Victim Assistance Division were in attendance.  Fifty-five agencies throughout the State of Indiana now have the capability to assist their clients in completing the Petition for an Order for Protection and the Confidential Form electronically.  Once a petition is completed and submitted through the Advocate Access, it becomes available to the designated Clerk’s Office.  And as a result, Clerks in 79 counties can import information obtained through the Advocate Access to initiate cases within the Protection Order Registry once the petitioner makes an official filing.    Additional trainings are scheduled.

The latest Indiana Court Times cover story is all about JTAC’s Odyssey deployment and a look back over the last ten years of trial court technology.  The story reminds us why Indiana chose not to undertake a standards-based approach to case management and explains why Odyssey is the right fit for Indiana. Read the story on the new Court Times blog.

Case Study: Hamilton County Odyssey Deployment
Watch a video featuring local Hamilton County staff before, during, and after the implementation of Odyssey.

The Protection Order Registry Advocate Access has become a vital tool for domestic violence agencies throughout Indiana.  As of February 22, 2010, over 988 petitions have been created utilizing the Registry’s Advocate Access.  Domestic violence advocates in 42 counties are assisting their clients by completing the on-line petition and confidential form that will be filed with the Clerk’s Office in their respective counties.  Advocate Access gives the Clerk’s Office the ability to import the required data needed to initiate a case within the Protection Order Registry.  Importing this data significantly minimizes the amount of time and data entry for the clerk staff.

Clerks and Advocates alike have come to value the POR Advocate Access.  “Protective orders are very time sensitive.  The POR Advocate Access makes the protective order process speedy and efficient,” said Paul Singleton, Protective Order Attorney at the Family Justice Center in St. Joseph County.

And Linda Wilk, Hands of Hope Director in Marion, Indiana, encourages other advocates to utilize the electronic protective order system offered by JTAC.  Linda states, “In Grant and Wabash counties we have been consistently utilizing the electronic system to input protective orders and found it to be beneficial both to our program as well as to the victim. The process is simple and frankly more confidential than sitting in the hallway of the courthouse asking the victim personal questions while completing a paper form.  This process allows the victim to sit in a private office with an advocate while telling the circumstances that led up to the need for a protective order.  For clients who have resided in our domestic violence shelter, it has allowed the client to remain in the secure facility while filing the protective order electronically, any time of day and even on the weekend. The victim and/or advocate can then take the forms that still must be filed in person to the courthouse first thing the next day when the Clerk’s Office is open. The electronic protective order project has also allowed for police officers to stay current on the status of protective orders which, as an advocate, is an assurance I can provide to a victim that officers will know is the most current status of the order.”

Training for agencies in 24 additional counties began in February and will continue throughout March.

If you are interested in learning more about Advocate Access to the Protection Order Registry, please contact Pat Hess at 1-317-234-2735.

This past fall employees of Fayette County’s CASA/Victim Assistance program received training on the Public Access application for the Protection Order Registry, which allows domestic violence advocates working with victims to complete necessary forms for a petition for a protection order online. Getting the data processing completed quickly is important – but their antiquated computer equipment with its poor screen resolution and processors that were slowing down or coming to a standstill altogether, made accomplishing this work a major challenge.

Help arrived last week when they received a very welcomed shipment of 5 new computers from JTAC to replace their outdated computer hardware. Michelle Monique Richardson, the Deputy Director of the CASA/Victim Assistance Division, said: “It was like receiving our Christmas early. We felt like small children on Christmas morning. We clapped our hands and giggled with excitement. News traveled fast of our delivery of 5 brand new Dell computers and our Circuit Court Judge was in our office curious to see our special delivery. The Judge was grateful for JTAC doing such a wonderful thing for our office. Once again, thank you so much.” The computer hardware purchase was made possible from federal Byrne JAG grant funding generously provided from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.

On December 8, JTAC made its final 2009 presentation to the monthly stakeholders meeting held at our office in Indianapolis. The presentation highlights the milestones in court technology that have been achieved this year, including the continuing implementation of the Odyssey case management system in the counties as well as enhancements to the software application, and advances related to JTAC’s many other technology projects.

View presentation slides

The Herald Bulletin of Anderson had an interesting editorial last week entitled “Protective order program should be used statewide”. The editorial starts off with:

Across Indiana, there are 52,000 active protective orders against individuals accused or convicted of violent acts against another person.

Most orders are obtained by victims going to a county clerk’s office and filing a petition. Sometimes they have to wait in line before a staffer can help them complete the paperwork. The process can be unnerving, adding frustration to the trauma they’ve already experienced. Victims can feel powerless.

A new pilot program should make the process more accessible and serve as an additional step in helping law enforcement protect the victims.

Madison County has been named one of eight Hoosier counties to test a domestic violence registry pilot program.

In those counties, domestic violence advocates have online access in seeking protective orders on behalf of victims. Trained advocates can file paperwork at anytime, online at a shelter or other office.

JTAC’s Protection Order Registry is now standard operating procedure across the state and is required by state law, but the registry’s new public access feature brings even more functionality to an already popular initiative. For that, we couldn’t agree more with the Herald Bulletin and we doubt many Hoosiers would disagree.

Last Tuesday, JTAC held the August Stakeholder meeting.  Representatives from the Department of Corrections, Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, the Indiana Judicial Center and Judge Jeff Dywan, Lake County,  were in attendance.

Mary DePrez provided an update on the ‘Public Access’ pilot for the Protection Order Registry and recent grant awards.  She also mentioned two recent awards:  A ‘First Place’ Best Practices Award by the Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals;  and the Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Award for JTAC’s positive impact on traffic safety.  Both awards were a result of the successful partnership with Tyler Technologies, Inc., the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, the Indiana State Police, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and numerous judges, clerks and local law enforcement agencies  for working together to make the eCWS/Odyssey/BMV data exchange model a nationally recognized model.

Donna Edgar gave an Odyssey deployment update.  Since the July Stakeholder meeting, Owen County and 4 Superior Courts in St. Joseph County started to use Odyssey.  Donna also ‘unveiled’ the Odyssey Supervision module that has been under development since last Fall.  The application is undergoing rigorous testing and should be ready to deploy in the coming months.  Dylan Vester also demonstrated the latest eCWS release for the handheld devices.  The eCWS team is expected to begin testing next week and deployment of this release will begin in early September.

The meeting concluded promptly at 4:00!  Contact Mary Kronoshek at 317-234-2710 or mkronoshek@jtac.in.gov if you would like to receive a reminder for the monthly Stakeholder meeting.

Launch the presentation.

JTAC began a new pilot project with 8 counties on July 1^st. Building on the success of the Protection Order Registry (POR), JTAC has developed a new Public Access application for the POR. This will allow domestic violence advocates to work with a victim to complete necessary forms for a protection order online. Of course, all of the electronic forms seamlessly push into the POR and a case is started by the Clerk effortlessly.

31 days after launching, 150 petitions have been filed electronically through the Public Access. This has been a real boon for the courts because they now get legible paperwork and law enforcement because the petitions are automatically attached to the case file in the POR where it can be accessed at a moment’s notice. The pilot is going great and changes have already been made to Public Access based on user feedback. As a result, DV advocates concerns with the application have significantly decreased and POR is saving more time and more lives.

Everyone at JTAC thanks the DV Advocates, the Clerks,  and their staff in Allen, Elkhart, Grant, Madison, Marion, St. Joseph, Tippecanoe and Wabash counties for their efforts and feedback on this important new project.

The Indiana Supreme Court is partnering with law enforcement, clerks and domestic violence groups to help better protect victims of abuse.  Elkhart and Saint Joseph Counties are leading this effort by serving as pilot counties for an expanded protective order registry.  Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr. will be joined by Saint Joseph County Prosecutor Mike Dvorak and Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill, local judges and victim advocates for special news briefings to describe the importance of the expanded registry.  Justice Sullivan will travel to both Saint Joseph and Elkhart Counties to thank court leaders for their commitment to the registry and answer press questions.

Saint Joseph and Elkhart Counties are serving as pilot counties for a new public access component of the protective order registry.  The expanded registry will allow a victim to complete required forms online with the help of a domestic violence advocate.  Once the forms are completed, they can be printed and taken to the county clerk for filing.  The clerk can then focus on getting the information to a judge to review.  When a judge issues a protective order the information is sent to local, state, and federal law enforcement. This pilot system is expected to save time and increase efficiency for the courts.  It will also allow a person requesting a protective order to start the process with the help of a trained domestic violence advocate.

In 2007, Saint Joseph County had 367 new protective orders filed and Elkhart County had 508 new orders filed during that same period.  Under the old system, those hundreds of requestors obtained their protective orders by going to the Saint Joseph or Elkhart County Clerk’s office where they filed their petitions requesting a protective order.  The process can include waiting in line and waiting for clerk staff to help them properly complete the paperwork.

The expanded registry is being piloted in Elkhart and Saint Joseph Counties and six other counties across the state including Marion, Grant, Madison, Wabash, Tippecanoe, and Allen.  It is being implemented by the Supreme Court’s Division of State Court Administration Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC).  Justice Sullivan, who Chairs JTAC, believes the expanded registry is one of the most significant accomplishments of the Committee, “We are helping to save lives with this partnership.  This new public access function is being added after suggestions from domestic violence advocates and local clerks.  By working closely with Indiana State Police, Elkhart and Saint Joseph County domestic violence advocates, and our state legislature we have developed a system that will do more to protect victims.”

Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard spoke about the importance of the upgrade in the 2009 State of the Judiciary, “Improving the effectiveness of domestic abuse protective orders is not something you postpone in hard times, it’s something you race to accomplish.”  It is a sentiment echoed by Laura Berry Berman, the Executive Director of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence who explained, “We are strong supporters of the registry and want people to understand this is more than a technology upgrade-it will allow our volunteers to give victims the assistance they need and link them to community resources.”  Elkhart and Saint Joseph County domestic violence advocates will attend the press briefings to answer questions about the process.

The Indiana Supreme Court received a $135,235 grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to improve the electronic Protection Order Registry.  The money has helped pay for the development of the public access site.  The Protective Order Registry is used in 91 counties.  More information is available at www.in.gov/judiciary/jtac/programs/poregistry.html.

Event Information:

ELKHART COUNTY
MONDAY, JULY 27th
11 a.m. E.D.T
Office of the Prosecuting Attorney
301 S. Main St., Suite 100
Elkhart, Indiana 46516

- and -

SAINT JOSEPH COUNTY
Monday, JULY 27th
2 p.m. E.D.T
Family Justice Center
711 E. Colfax Avenue
South Bend, Indiana 46900