During 2011, the Indiana Judicial Center and the Judicial Conference Probation Officer Advisory Committee revised the existing PSI report to incorporate additional information (see chart) including information from the Indiana Risk Assessment System (IRAS) for adults. (See prior articles on risk assessment in March/April 2011 and September/October 2011 issues of Indiana Court Times.) These risk assessment tools are used at key stages in the criminal justice process to assess the offender’s risk to reoffend and to determine the level of supervision and resources appropriate for addressing the particular risks. The risk assessment tools were automated in 2011 enabling courts and law enforcement unprecedented ways to share information. They are part of the Indiana Supreme Court’s secure website known as INcite (Indiana Court Information Technology Extranet) which thousands of people use to collect and exchange information with each other and with others who need and use court information.

On November 7, 2011, the Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) staff of the Division of State Court Administration deployed the PSI application during a pilot phase to five Indiana probation departments in the following counties: Marion, Tippecanoe, Monroe, Dearborn, and Blackford. On January 3, 2012, the PSI application was launched statewide to over 930 probation officials. By the end of February, 2012 probation officers had completed 2,300 PSI reports in INcite. The Judicial Conference Board of Directors requires that all probation departments utilize the new INcite PSI application.

The defendant's overall risk assessment level and the level for each domain section is included in the PSI Report.

Probation officers across the state can view completed PSI reports and, when dealing with repeat offenders, officers have the ability to create a new PSI report using information stored within INcite from previous reports. The ability to collect, store and share information that is needed repeatedly becomes invaluable when compiling the legal history of an offender. Prior to the automated PSI application, probation officers were completing PSI reports independently and not sharing completed reports with other departments throughout the state.

After using the PSI application for the first time, Cathy Knight, a Probation Officer with the Miami County Probation Department, declared “Just did my first PSI on the new system…and I love it!”

In January 2012, a group of stakeholders joined efforts with the Division’s JTAC staff and began work on the next phase of this project—a standard, electronic version of the Abstract of Judgment. Information from the PSI report will be pulled into the Abstract of Judgment, creating a legible document, avoiding duplicate data entry, and ensuring the accuracy of the information. The trial court will be able to attach the Judgment of Conviction and the Sentencing Order to the Abstract. By statute, the PSI report, the Abstract of Judgment and the Sentencing Order must be submitted to the Indiana Department of Correction (DOC) whenever a convicted person is sentenced to a DOC facility. Using INcite, DOC staff will be able to retrieve the PSI report, Abstract and Sentencing Order directly from the INcite Application. This will result in cost savings, more efficient communication between courts and DOC, and fewer resources expended to track down missing paperwork. And, when the Abstract of Judgment application is used by all courts on a statewide basis, comprehensive conviction and sentencing information will be readily available to prosecutors, judges, legislators, policy makers and the general public.

On March 19, 2012, House Enrolled Act 1200 was signed into law by Governor Mitch Daniels. This law adds section 31 to Indiana Code 35-38-1 and states in part that “if a court imposes on a person convicted of a felony a sentence that involves a commitment to the department of correction, the court shall complete an abstract of judgment in an electronic format approved by the department of correction and the division of state court administration.” Using JTAC’s INcite Abstract of Judgment application, courts will be able to comply with the new law. JTAC will make this application available on or before July 1, 2012, the effective date of the new electronic reporting provisions.

The Judicial Conference of Indiana is charged with the development of a standard Presentence Investigation Report to be used by all courts in Indiana. [IC 11-13-1-8(b)(4)] The purpose of developing a standard PSI is to provide the judge with complete and consistent information about the case, enhancing the court’s ability to hand down an appropriate sentence. Once the sentence has been entered, the PSI becomes the cornerstone of a correctional plan. Information from the PSI, along with the risk assessment instrument provides some of the fundamental information used to identify criminogenic needs and developing individualized case plans for offenders sentenced to institutional or community supervision.

The implementation of the new PSI/Abstract of Judgment INcite application will solve three specific problem areas.

Problem One

Probation officers do not have access to completed PSI reports on a statewide basis. They work independently from county to county when they prepare each PSI. Thus, one probation officer does not know if another probation department has already prepared a PSI for the same defendant or is in the process of preparing a new PSI for that defendant for a different criminal case. Although some officers do share PSI reports between departments or between counties, many do not. A great deal of research goes into each PSI report and often this research is done multiple times by multiple officers.

Problem Two

Frequently, the Department of Correction does not receive the information about an inmate in a timely manner from the courts. This information required by DOC includes the PSI, Sentencing Order and Abstract of Judgment following the sentencing hearing or a hearing on a revocation where the court has ordered a commitment of the defendant to the DOC. This delay prevents DOC from processing the defendant at intake, necessitating that DOC staff contact the courts and probation departments to track down the paperwork.

Problem Three

At times, the DOC has to seek additional information from the court because the Sentencing Order or the Abstract of Judgment is ambiguous or does not contain information required by DOC.

Automating the standard PSI form and making it available to all who need to work with it would solve each of the three problems described above. Thanks to the work of the Probation Officer Advisory Board and the Judicial Conference Board of Directors, a new PSI report has been approved and it will be incorporated into INcite. JTAC conducted testing of the first release containing the PSI functionality in October and anticipates the application will be ready for statewide deployment in November of 2011. The Judicial Conference Board of Directors will require all probation departments to utilize the new INcite PSI application when available.

Copywriter Monica Freeman and her fiancé Preston Holb, a Financial Analyst, used JTAC's new online marriage license application in late May. After using the new system, Monica used Twitter to spread the word.

On Friday, May 27, Monica Freeman and her fiancé Preston Holb walked into the Allen County Clerk’s Office to apply for a marriage license. But it wasn’t business as usual, because the Clerk’s staff didn’t ask for their dates of birth, where they were born, or even their mothers’ maiden names.

Have Indiana’s requirements to obtain a marriage license changed? No, the couple used a new Online Marriage License Application developed by the Indiana Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC).

The day before visiting the Clerk’s Office, Monica and Preston entered most of the required information for the license application into the new online system that was piloted by four Indiana counties. This reduced the amount of time they had to spend at the courthouse, and they were on their way, marriage license in hand, in just minutes.

“I think this is a great service to have online,” Freeman said, “especially as more and more people of our age group—who are so comfortable using computers—are starting to get married.”

According to Allen County Clerk Lisbeth (Lisa) Borgmann, “The staff was very excited and said the process worked great!” Allen County was the first county to use the new pilot application on the same day they began issuing licenses electronically.

For four years, the Supreme Court’s INcite web portal, developed by JTAC, has allowed clerks to create and store marriage licenses electronically. The new public marriage license application has essentially put the data entry responsibilities into the hands of applicants, like Freeman and Holb, reducing both the time clerks spend processing applications and the time applicants have to spend in the Clerk’s Office. INcite also allows clerks to submit data electronically to the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) for all completed marriage licenses, which greatly reduces paperwork and mailing costs in clerks’ offices and data entry at ISDH. Before adopting INcite and the Online Marriage License Application, Allen County processed marriage licenses entirely on paper.

The pilot program also included Hancock, Tippecanoe and Vanderburgh Counties. Couples living in any of the pilot counties (or out-of-state couples planning to marry in one of the pilot counties) could begin a marriage license application online beginning May 1. On June 10, the pilot ended and the online application became available to all Indiana counties that use INcite to process marriage licenses. As of August 1, 2011, 60 counties offer the online application to couples planning to marry.

The Holbs were married in June and celebrated their wedding reception at the historic Allen County courthouse.

How It Works

The Online Marriage License Application allows couples to enter most of the information they would otherwise have to provide in person at the Clerk’s office. For example, applicants can enter their names, addresses, dates of birth, information about previous marriages and their parents’ information. This information is required by statute and collected on the application for genealogical purposes.

“I was a little intimidated by the process at first, but it was incredibly easy…”

“I was a little intimidated by the process at first, but it was incredibly easy and simple,” Freeman said. “We weren’t expecting much, since it was a government system, but it looked really nice, and it was smooth and easy to use.”

The program allows the applicants to enter the information at their own pace at home or using any computer with Internet access. Once they begin an application, they can save and return to it using a secure “license key” (a unique, numeric code). This process provides applicants the flexibility and time to gather information for some of the application questions which are not necessarily intuitive, such as the state where each parent was born or the ZIP code on parents’ addresses.

JTAC developers took special precautions with the security aspect of this application because people can use shared or public computers to submit their applications. Once information is saved on the first page, each subsequent page shows the secure license key the couple may use to return to their application, as well as a five-minute countdown timer that shows when the page will expire. If they need more time, applicants may click a button to add time in two-minute increments. If the page expires before they add time or save their work, the couple will not be able to retrieve their application, and they must begin again. This minor inconvenience is balanced by the critical importance of securing the personal information being entered and removing any opportunity for others to access the information.

Applicants still need to complete the marriage license transaction in person at the Clerk’s office. There, they must provide their social security numbers [required by IC 31–11–4–4(d)] and valid identifications to prove their identities and dates of birth, and they must answer a series of questions that the clerk is required by law to ask.

The public Online Marriage License Application can be found at courts.IN.gov/marriage.

The implementation of new risk/needs assessment systems for Indiana’s juvenile and criminal justice systems marked an important milestone during 2010-2011. These tools are designed to provide Indiana’s courts with information about an offender’s potential risks and needs, allowing trial courts to provide appropriate sentences, supervision and treatment services. The risk assessment tools enhance efforts to rehabilitate offenders, reduce recidivism, and increase public safety. Many stakeholders were involved in developing these tools for use in Indiana. This article will answer these questions: What are risk/needs assessment tools? Who was involved in their adoption for use in Indiana? Who will use these tools? How will they work?

In Indiana, as well as nationally, there has been a growing acceptance and use of evidence-based practices in sentencing adult and juvenile offenders. The foundation for implementing these practices requires the use of validated, actuarial risk assessment instruments. The term evidence-based practices refers to the use of empirical data derived through scientific research from juvenile and criminal justice systems which identify factors about an offender that provide an empirical assessment of the offender’s likelihood to reoffend and techniques and programs that have been proven effective in reducing such risks. Risk assessment instruments that focus on both risk and need factors can assist in creating proper supervision plans and appropriate service referrals by the supervising agency, including probation, parole, community corrections, problem-solving courts, Court Alcohol & Drug programs, and the Indiana Department of Correction.

Risk Assessment Task Force

Supervising agencies in Indiana have used a variety of risk assessment tools for several years. In 2006, key stakeholders formed the Risk Assessment Task Force, staffed by the Indiana Judicial Center, to promote a uniform and consistent risk assessment process across the relevant supervising agencies as a part of the continuing effort to implement evidence-based practices in Indiana. This task force includes representatives from the supervising agencies, a member of the judiciary, and staff of the Judicial Automation and Technology Committee (JTAC) with the Indiana Supreme Court Division of State Court Administration. It continues to exercise oversight for this project.

Indiana adopts IYAS and IRAS

In 2008, the task force recommended that Indiana adopt two systems developed by the University of Cincinnati: the Indiana Youth Assessment System (IYAS) for juveniles and the Indiana Risk Assessment System (IRAS) for adults. These systems are designed to be used at key stages in the criminal justice process to help guide decisions, ascertain the appropriate allocation of resources and programs, measure changes in an offender’s risk and need factors during supervision, and improve public safety.

Following the recommendation to adopt the IYAS and IRAS, the task force began developing implementation policies for the assessment instruments. A key policy is that individuals who administer the assessments must be certified, which requires the completion of two-day training and a certification test. Also, there are minimum requirements for the administration of the assessments and the completion of case plans.

The Center for Criminal Justice Research at the University of Cincinnati has been integral in the development of a core group of individuals who conduct the certification training as well as development of the materials used in the training. Beginning in 2010 to the present, 740 juvenile system staff have attended 34 juvenile trainings, and 1708 adult system staff have attended 59 adult trainings conducted across the state. Supervising agencies began using the IYAS on October 1, 2010, and the IRAS on January 1, 2011.

The Risk Assessment Process

The assessment process includes: (1) a semi-structured interview with the offender, (2) a file review, and (3) the gathering of necessary collateral information. It is not just one item or factor that makes someone more or less likely to re-offend, but it is the combination of multiple factors in multiple areas. Factors in the assessment—referred to as domains—are the offender’s:

history with the justice system,

employment and education,

family and social support,

substance abuse and mental health,

peers, and

attitudes and behavioral patterns.

The assessment results provide an overall risk level and a risk level for each domain. Evidence-based practices research indicates that the most effective use of limited resources is to target individuals with high or moderate risk and need factors for more intensive supervision and services. These results assist the supervising agency in identifying the appropriate types of service or interventions needed to help reduce the individual’s risk for re-offense. This identification forms the basis of an individualized case plan outlining the goals and objectives for each need area and the interventions required to address those needs.

Indiana Supreme Court Decision Affirms Use of Risk Assessment Tools

In addition to being one of the first states to implement a system-wide risk assessment instrument, Indiana has also produced an important Supreme Court decision analyzing and affirming the use of such instruments. In June 2010, the Indiana Supreme Court decided Malenchik v. State, 928 N.E.2d 564, which focuses on the proper use of evidence-based assessment results. In writing the unanimous decision for the Court, Justice Brent Dickson confirmed that when sentencing individuals, judges could consider results of assessments conducted by the county probation department, Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) and Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI). The Court provided the framework necessary to assist trial courts in appropriately using the results of risk and need assessment instruments:

It is clear that neither LSI-R nor the SASSI are intended nor recommended to substitute for the judicial function of determining the length of sentence appropriate for each offender. But such evidence-based assessment instruments can be significant sources of valuable information for judicial consideration in deciding whether to suspend all or part of a sentence, how to design a probation program for the offender, whether to assign an offender to alternative treatment facilities or programs, and other such corollary sentencing matters. Id. at 573.

The Court stated that these instruments provide information based on extensive research and assist courts in crafting individualized sentencing schemes with a maximum potential for reformation consistent with Article I, Section 18 of the Indiana Constitution, which emphasizes the foundational importance of reformation as a goal of our penal code. The Court held that the assessment results are not intended to serve as aggravating or mitigating circumstances nor determine the gross length of a sentence, but can be used in formulating the manner in which a sentence is to be served. By using instruments such as the IRAS and IYAS, the sentencing judge has the ability to formulate and enforce an acceptable individualized case plan, which can assist in the offender’s rehabilitation.

JTAC, INcite, and Risk Assessment Tools

Creating an automated process for completing these assessments was another phase of the project implementation. Representatives from probation, community corrections, the Indiana Department of Correction, and the Indiana Judicial Center provided guidance to the JTAC staff in the development of electronic means for scoring and storing the results to the risk assessment tools. The automation of the risk assessment instrument was funded through a federal grant. The main objectives behind the development of the automated Risk Assessment Application were: (1) improve communication between criminal justice agencies, (2) contribute to continuity of services for offenders, and (3) store statewide aggregate data needed for revalidation of the tools. The Risk Assessment Application is part of the Indiana Supreme Court INcite framework which provides the pathway for numerous other automated applications used by the courts and state agencies.

EXAMPLE FROM INCITE. JTAC's Risk Assessment tool includes departmental summary charts like the one above, which aggregates data for one risk tool performed on many offenders by one agency over a specified time period. The chart highlights the areas that most contribute to recidivism for the agency's overall offender population and can assist a director or chief probation officer to determine programming needs and allocation of departmental resources.

After an individual user is certified, JTAC staff provides a password which will grant the user access to the INcite Risk Assessment Application. When an interview with an offender has been completed, the user will sign into the INcite application and answer the risk assessment questions based on information gathered. The offender information, risk assessment answers, specific domain scores, and overall assessment scores are stored in the system for future reference. Once that offender progresses to the next stage of the juvenile or criminal justice system, and another risk assessment is warranted, another user will be able to utilize the existing offender information and refer back to the previously completed risk assessment.

Users of the Risk Assessment Application receive a number of benefits:

The system and its maintenance are free to all agencies.

Criminal justice agencies using the risk assessment tools now have a single electronic means for scoring.

Important offender information is easily shared among users, resulting in improved communication.

Each entity using the application can build on existing information to gain the knowledge needed for appropriate offender supervision, rather than completing a new assessment at each phase of the system.

There is a reduction in duplication of work because system interfaces allow the transfer of risk assessment details from the Risk Assessment Application to an agency’s local case management system.

Supervisors or administrators of the Risk Assessment Application have the ability to analyze aggregate data for their agency and examine program effectiveness on reducing recidivism.

Since all offender data throughout the state is stored in one location, the data collection process necessary for periodic review and revalidation of the tools will be greatly simplified.

Users have immediate access to the most recent versions, documents, and instructions if any part of the IYAS or IRAS is modified after a revalidation period.

Indiana now has the most current risk assessment tools because of the work of the Risk Assessment Task Force in conjunction with the Probation Officers Advisory Board, the Judicial Conference’s Probation Committee, the Judicial Conference Board of Directors, the Indiana Judicial Center, the Department of Correction, State Court Administration’s JTAC staff, and our trainers.

Summit on Evidence-Based Practices scheduled for May 19, 2011 in Indianapolis

Judges, prosecutors, public defenders, chief probation officers, and community correction directors are invited to participate in a Summit on Evidence-Based Practices and Risk Assessment on May 19th in Indianapolis to learn more about how these principles and tools can improve youth and offender management in your community.

For more information about IYAS and IRAS, contact Michelle Goodman at mgoodman@courts.state.in.us or (317) 232-1313. For more information about JTAC’s Risk Assessment tool available on INcite, contact Lisa Thompson at lthompson@jtac.in.gov or (317) 234-6586.

In 2005, the Indiana Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) initiated a project that would enable courts to submit electronically commercial driver violations to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). Like other states, Indiana was at risk of losing millions in federal funding for highways unless our courts could reduce the time between conviction and reporting to the BMV. We called the project INcite—the Indiana Courts Information Technology Extranet.

Though INcite’s original purpose was focused on commercial drivers, it very quickly became clear that courts and related offices had significant need for similar systems to handle transfer of local data to the state and federal levels—or vice versa—in many areas of their work. Indeed by 2007, INcite included an additional four applications, and today the site houses eleven applications for use by trial courts, clerks, probation officers, law enforcement, and victim advocates.

Late last year, the Council of State Governments (CSG) presented Indiana with an Innovations Award for INcite. CSG has been selecting Innovations Award winners since 1986 in an effort to promote successful state projects that have the potential to be replicated or modeled by other states.

The Council of State Governments presents JTAC with their Innovations Award. Left to right: State Rep. Bob Godfrey (Connecticut), 2011 Chairman of the Council of State Governments; Jill Russell, Senior Field Support Specialist, JTAC; State Rep. Steve Buehrer (Ohio), 2010 Midwestern Legislative Chairman, Council of State Governments. (Photo. Stew Milne, Council of State Governments.)

What exactly is INcite?

After the initial success of the first application for commercial driver convictions, JTAC identified similar potential web applications to serve courts and clerks. Often, these project ideas were the result of requests for help from local courts or requirements in newly effective legislation. As the need for those additional applications became apparent, so did the need for a standardized method for building, securing, and managing them. A more refined approach to development was need for these new applications. That led to the creation of the INcite Framework.

Users of INcite know it as a secure website that allows them to exchange data, whether reporting statistics or convictions, tracking a probationer’s progress, or downloading a jury list. Developers of INcite know it as a framework—both a blueprint that dictates the technical specifications of any application or interface developed for the site, and a foundation for new applications, which includes user account management, security, and shared data.

In the beginning of INcite, applications sprang up like houses in a city neighborhood—different architectural styles, different builders, and no rules about how high the fence can be. The INcite Framework is more like a planned, gated community with rules about things like paint color, building materials, and mailbox height. Rules like these may take a bit of the charm out of a neighborhood, but they create only benefits when it comes to developing a website.

Single Sign-on and Password Recovery. One of the basic components of the framework is the ability to create an account for an individual user and then assign that user access to applications that correspond with the user’s job function. The user then logs in to INcite once and can access all of her available applications. If she forgets her password, instead of calling the helpdesk, she can use the automated system for password retrieval or reset the password.

Security. For INcite developers, the fact that security is built into the framework has a huge impact on development time and complexity. Without the framework, each application would have to include its own security model; because of the framework, developers needn’t worry about security and can focus on functionality.

Shared Data. Another time saver for developers is the availability of shared data in the framework. For example, if two different INcite applications both need to have a field for an attorney name, both applications can pull attorney names from the same source of data—in this case, the Roll of Attorneys. As attorney records are updated, the attorney information in those applications is updated, so not only does this feature simplify development, but it also increases the accuracy of data.

Event Logs. Tracking events—especially errors—on the INcite server helps developers and administrators keep the site up and running efficiently.

What has INcite helped Indiana accomplish?

The various applications now available to courts and clerks through INcite have saved state and local government offices both time and money, and in many cases, they’ve improved public safety or enhanced Hoosiers’ access to justice. Here are some examples:

$34 million in federal highway funds secured

With the development of the first INcite application—funded by a federal grant—Indiana met the federal requirements and brought the time period between commercial driver conviction and reporting to the BMV from an average of more than 53 days to less than 8 days. This accomplishment helped secure $34 million in annual highway funds.

Law Enforcement man-hours reduced

According to Lt. Col. John Clawson of the Indiana State Police, since they implemented the Electronic Citation and Warning System (eCWS), over 20 full-time data entry positions have been eliminated. Further, it is estimated that over 22 thousand man-hours to date have been saved because law enforcement personnel no longer have to complete data entry on protection orders thanks to the Protection Order Registry.

Clerks’ offices save money

Without INcite’s Tax Warrant application available free to Clerks around the state, local governments would collectively spend over $150,000 each year for annual maintenance on a replacement system. Many Clerks would still be processing tax warrants manually, but because INcite is available, they not only don’t have an annual fee, they’re receiving filing fees from the Department of Revenue in a more timely way.

Victims are better served and protected

Indiana’s Protection Order Registry (POR)—developed with federal grant money and made mandatory statewide by the Indiana General Assembly in 2009—has drastically improved the transfer of data from local to state to federal law enforcement. As a result, access to data about active protection orders empowers police to enforce the orders effectively. Today, a victim can apply for a protection order in the comfort and privacy of a victim advocate’s office instead of exposing her private life in a busy Clerk’s office. Soon, victims will receive email and text message alerts about the status of their protection orders, and the public will be able to search non-confidential protection order information online.

For more information…

If you would like to learn more about Indiana’s INcite project or how your court or office can begin using one of its applications, contact Mary DePrez at mdeprez@jtac.in.gov or (317) 234-2604.

The NHTSA initiated their Incentive Grant Program to Prohibit Racial Profiling in 2006. JTAC partnered with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) to apply for the grant in 2010; Indiana is among five states that were awarded funding, and will receive $885,460. This grant will fund the installation of Odyssey in five counties, equipment to law enforcement agencies in those five counties and other counties already using E-Tickets, and a collaborative effort between all three branches of state government to study the race and ethnicity data collected at traffic stops and stored in eCWS and Odyssey.

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute has provided additional grant funds in 2010 totaling over $200,000 for the E-Tickets project. These grants will fund deployment of the system to additional law enforcement agencies and enhancements to the software, such as the addition of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping.

The Year in Review

JTAC made significant strides in 2010 both with regard to deployment of eCWS and improvements to the software and its interfaces. As of the end of the year, 200 of the 522 law enforcement agencies in Indiana are using the system to issue 65% of tickets written statewide. Over 2.7 million traffic tickets and warnings have been stored in the eCWS central repository to date, and nearly a quarter of a million tickets have been electronically filed to 23 Odyssey courts. Over 6300 officers and staff are using the eCWS system, and nearly 25 additional agencies are in the queue for training.

All components of the eCWS system, including the desktop and mobile applications and the central repository, have been upgraded from version 1.5 to version 2.1. All users of the system are currently on the latest version. One major improvement to the software during 2010 was the creation of a night mode for officers working after sunset. The original software was designed with primarily dark text over a light background, but officers running the software at night found their computer screens were so bright that when turning away from the screen, their eyes had difficulty adjusting to the darkness outside their vehicles. The new night mode, available as a user preference in the software, is designed to display light text over a dark background. This feature improves safety and reduces eye strain for officers on the night shift.

As of 2010, eCWS interfaces with ProsLink, a system used by many Indiana prosecuting attorneys; CourtView and Keystone, two case management systems used by some Indiana courts; and, of course, JTAC’s Odyssey Case Management System. In addition, eCWS interfaces with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s (IMPD’s) Z-Client E-Ticket system. As a result of these interfaces, JTAC has electronically delivered over 6300 tickets to ProsLink in nine counties; nearly 56,000 tickets to CourtView in Lake County; over 41,000 tickets to Keystone in 11 city and town courts; and nearly 15,000 tickets from Z-Client to Odyssey in Marion County.

Since the E-Ticket project was first launched in 2007, JTAC has distributed over $1.9 million in grants for equipment to state and local law enforcement agencies. So far, three state agencies (State Police, Department of Natural Resources, and Excise Police) and 183 local law enforcement agencies in 65 counties have received equipment through grants made by JTAC or ICJI. JTAC has an additional $250,000 to allocate to agencies in the queue for deployment, for equipment including laptops, barcode scanners, and in-car printers.

Handheld scanners like the one pictured above are just one type of equipment provided to law enforcement agencies by JTAC through the support of state and federal grants.

The Year Ahead

With feedback from law enforcement officers using the system and grant funding from state and federal sources, JTAC will be able to make several major enhancements to the eCWS software in 2011. One planned upgrade, funded by a $100,000 U.S. Department of Transportation grant, is improved GIS mapping. GIS allows officers to capture the specific location (latitude and longitude) where an offense occurred, giving law enforcement agencies the means to analyze ticket data by location. This makes it possible for agencies to, for example, compare location and offense information and identify problem areas in their respective jurisdictions.

JTAC development staff will meet with users of the system to hold a design meeting and outline specific changes. Based on feedback received so far, we expect changes to include improved functionality for searches of intersections, mile marker references, and other locations; layout changes to the map screen; and migration to the new map data standard that improves the accuracy of map data.

JTAC will add functionality to the eCWS Prosecutor Screen, giving prosecutors the ability to not only file infraction cases to Odyssey, but criminal cases as well. We also plan the incorporation of the Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Affidavit for Probable Cause into the eCWS desktop application. The majority of the information for the Affidavit will auto-fill from the ticket, saving the officer a tremendous amount of time spent completing paperwork.

To learn more about JTAC’s E-Ticket system, including how it works and who to contact about bringing the system to your local law enforcement agency, visit courts.in.gov/jtac/programs/ecws.html.

The Supervision Product Center is the third of three product centers planned for the Odyssey case management system (CMS) which is being deployed throughout Indiana’s courts. The initial deployment of Odyssey to Indiana courts in December, 2007 included the Case Manager and Financial Manager product centers. The Supervision product center has been custom-built by experts from Indiana and Tyler Technologies, and is the first of its kind for any state using Odyssey.

What is Odyssey Supervision?

Odyssey Supervision is a web-based computer application designed for use by probation departments and other supervision programs and will assist users in managing their caseloads. The application is a separate product center within Odyssey (which is currently being used in 62 courts throughout Indiana). Because supervision data is pulled from existing data in the CMS, any court already using Odyssey can request the use of Supervision for their Probation Department, Community Corrections Department, Court Alcohol and Drug Program, Drug Court Program, Mental Health Court Program, and other Problem-Solving Court Programs.

Odyssey Supervision’s key features allow a community supervision program to create a caseload of clients, assess and collect program fees, create case contact notes, input conditions of supervision, print documents and forms, record compliance with terms of supervision, store drug testing results, and monitor compliance with intervention services. Although case specific information is classified as confidential, information pertaining to a party in a case is stored and accessible by not only the courts and clerks who use Odyssey, but also other users of Odyssey Supervision throughout the state.

Why is it needed?

Supervision and community corrections programs throughout the state are generally funded at the local level, and have traditionally been overlooked—for various reasons—with regard to allocations for technology spending. Because Odyssey is a people-based system, it makes perfect sense that the system used to manage a defendant’s case and any related financial obligations (i.e., fees and fines) should also manage that defendant’s probation record. With the development of Odyssey Supervision, and with funding provided by JTAC, Probation Departments and other programs across the state now have the ability to utilize computer software that will assist them in their daily activities and increase case management efficiencies, without imposing on their ever-decreasing annual budget.

Not only does JTAC provide the software at no cost to the city or county, but JTAC also provides the training and ongoing support and assistance to users of Odyssey Supervision through its help desk. Further, JTAC has initiated an in-house project that will link the stored data within Odyssey Supervision to the INcite application used by probation departments to report quarterly statistics to the Division of State Court Administration.

Milestones

The first deployment of Odyssey Supervision was completed last April with the help of Harrison County Adult Probation staff. A new deployment has occurred every month since that time. To date, the probation-based users of Odyssey Supervision include the Harrison County Adult and Juvenile Probation Departments, Warren County Probation Department, DeKalb County Probation Department, and Floyd Superior 2 Probation Department. In August, Odyssey Supervision was launched in the Floyd County Professional Services Office, a free-standing Court Alcohol and Drug Program. In addition to the standard features available for Odyssey Supervision, users with the Floyd County Professional Services Office are able to tabulate clinical assessments and monitor referrals to outside providers. Future releases of Odyssey Supervision will provide Court Alcohol and Drug Programs and Drug Court Programs the ability to schedule treatment or counseling sessions and monitor clients’ attendance.

Looking forward

Due to configuration requirements, the timetable for deployment of Odyssey Supervision is based on a monthly schedule. The Supervision team at JTAC is committed to creating a positive ongoing relationship with its users, so having a complete understanding of an organization’s business procedures and users’ needs are important first steps to a successful deployment. Once configuration is complete, the JTAC training team will devote a few days of on-site training and software demonstration. Then in the weeks and months following deployment, continued application support is provided to users as needed.

If you are interested in more information about the Odyssey Supervision project, please contact Lisa Thompson at JTAC at 317-234-6586 or lthompson@jtac.in.gov.

In addition to the primary goal of equipping Indiana with a statewide case management system (CMS), the Indiana Supreme Court, Division of State Court Administration’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) is developing several satellite applications, all of which will work in tandem with the CMS.  Central to this effort is the need for a standardized, secure, web-based platform—called INcite—through which Indiana court and clerk staff can access and interact with all of the applications JTAC provides.

An extranet is typically a website that an organization uses to exchange information with an external, often geographically disconnected group of users. In this case, it is a website that the Supreme Court is providing to county- and city-level court and justice-related offices to share information with each other and with state-level offices.

The INcite extranet employs security features such as data encryption and authentication to ensure only authorized users can see and use data. Court users must be given access to the system by JTAC, and they may only access job-appropriate information. For example, a court staff person who has access to the INcite jury management system does not have access to do marriage license filings. In situations where the same personnel need to complete multiple tasks through INcite, they can be granted permission to access different applications.

Since 2005, staff from JTAC and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) have been working together to provide courts, clerks and probation department staff access to individual driver records at the BMV through JTAC’s INcite application.

Driver history information in INcite has proven to be an invaluable resource to court, clerk and probation staff, as well as the citizens who walk through their doors.  Pendleton Town Court Judge George Gasparovic commented, “My staff is extremely pleased with the new BMV Portal.  It has reduced their lookup time significantly.  This is a definite improvement in our administrative processes.”

Only with access to driver information can our courts provide these services:

• A citizen walks into the Clerk’s office to pay an outstanding ticket.  He may not know that his license was suspended by a court in the adjoining county, and without access to that driver’s record, the Clerk could not inform him.
• A driver admits to a speeding charge or driving while suspended.  Prior to sentencing, the judge may want to review the driver’s record.
• Probation officers may want to monitor the ability of the offender to drive while on pre-trial release or probation or check the offender’s driving record for a pre-sentence investigation report.

Confidentiality

As JTAC and the BMV worked to restore driver history access through INcite, the Bureau has worked to strengthen security around access to driver records in compliance with the Driver Privacy Protection Act.  These privacy regulations coupled with the fact that INcite gives users direct access to driver records meant that the Division of State Court Administration had to enter into a new agreement with the BMV.  This in turn has meant a revision to the INcite User Agreement to include additional language required by federal and state laws to help maintain the confidentiality of driver records.  The agreement requires judges and clerks to notify JTAC when INcite users leave employment.

User Access to Driver Records

There are two types of access for the BMV/INcite application:

“Basic Access” provides the user the ability to conduct searches of BMV records in which the records returned will contain only the personal information that the user entered into the application to conduct the search.

“Enhanced Access” provides the user the ability to conduct searches for BMV records in which the records returned will contain additional personal information or personal identifiers for that record.

For security reasons, the BMV and JTAC will limit the number of users who will be granted enhanced access in order to improve the security regarding the release of the data within the driver records that are covered by Indiana Code 9-14-3.5, Disclosure of Personal Information in Motor Vehicle Records. This law implements the federal Driver Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (18 U.S.C. § 2721 et. seq.). These laws are designed to protect the personal privacy interest of individuals by prohibiting the disclosure and use of personal information contained in motor vehicle records, except as authorized by an affected individual or by law.

Chronological Case Summary (CCS). The CCS displayed in Odyssey will have a larger text size and the case caption information will display on all pages.  Both of these changes will increase the readability of the CCS.  Additional information not previously displayed on the CCS will now appear, including speed amounts, hearing comments, split bond information, and information added on the SERVICE TAB.   The SERVICE TAB information will be helpful in complex litigation cases where numerous parties and documents are being served.

Party Records. JTAC now has the ability to lock party records.  Odyssey is a party based system.  If a person has multiple cases in multiple counties, all cases will be associated to that person’s party record.  For example, the State of Indiana record has been locked so it cannot be changed by any Odyssey user.  To request that a record be locked, contact the JTAC Help Desk at help@jtac.in.gov or 1-888-ASK-JTAC.

Event Tab. The Event Tab in case manager is the tab that is used to enter all the events that occur in each case.  It has been updated to allow users to sort and filter the table of events.  Tyler Technologies built this functionality to use in complex cases for the courts in Las Vegas, and it is now available to Indiana courts.

Quarterly Case Status Report (QCSR). Two changes have been made to reduce the need for manual entries. Previously, when a court received a case venued from another county it included the designation NEW FILING EVENT, which would have to be manually deleted.  Now, users simply add the VENUED IN EVENT, and the NEW FILING EVENT will be automatically deleted.  And, if a case is created in error, users can add a CASE CREATED IN ERROR EVENT (CCIE), and the case will not be counted on the QCSR report.

Reports. Several new reports are now available in the CASE MANAGEMENT, COURT ADMINISTRATION, and FINANCIAL ACTIVITY section of the application.  These reports were not created by Indiana, but Tyler made them available for our use.  Examples of new reports include CALENDAR SUMMARY reporting, ATTORNEY CASE reporting, and TRUST reports.

Another feature, Calendar Sync—coming soon to users around the state—is currently being piloted by Judge William J. Hughes, Hamilton County Superior Court #3 and Judge Paul A. Felix, Hamilton County Circuit Court.  Calendar Sync allows users to create a connection between the docket in Odyssey and the Microsoft Outlook calendar on their personal computers.  Once that connection is made, it’s then possible to access basic information about scheduled hearings and trials from a handheld device or smart phone, like a Blackberry.  JTAC staff members are working to iron out the kinks with feedback from Judge Hughes and Judge Felix so this feature will be ready soon to roll out to additional users.

Traffic Processes. Odyssey now removes all financial assessments against a defendant when all charges are dismissed in a case.  In addition, a Court or Clerk may request two additional features:

1. When a deferral case has been paid in full, Odyssey will automatically add the statistical closure and change the case status.
2. When a traffic case has been paid in full, Odyssey will automatically add a statistical closure of VIOLATIONS BUREAU, DISPOSITION OF ADMISSION and change the case status.

JTAC will be working with judges and clerks in the coming weeks to implement these new features.

Indiana’s Protection Order Registry began as a project to speed delivery of orders to law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and to allow sharing of protection order information across county and state lines.  The ultimate goal of the project was to increase victim safety through improved recordkeeping practices.  The POR has largely been regarded as a success by courts, law enforcement, victim advocates, and the Indiana General Assembly, which enacted a law in 2009 requiring courts to use the system. That is when the Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) staff turned its attention to extending the reach of the Registry so that victim advocates could use the system.

“The process of filing for a protection order is safer and more relaxed, and…victims are able to give a more complete and thorough account of their experiences.”

“I was excited when protection orders first became electronic,” said Linda Wilk, Director of Hands of Hope, a division of Family Service Society, Inc., in Marion, Indiana, “but this new access for advocates takes it to a higher level in terms of victim care and protection.”

Victims of violence seeking a court protection order before the implementation of this system had to visit a county clerk’s office and describe the intimate details of their abuse—an often intimidating experience.  Now, a victim can sit in the privacy of an advocate’s office or a room at a shelter and tell her story without fear of being overheard or spotted by someone she knows, especially her abuser.

“The new Advocate Access to the POR improves victim safety in more ways than one,” said Kerry Hyatt Blomquist, Legal Director of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  “The process of filing for a protection order is safer and more relaxed, and because of that, victims are able to give a more complete and thorough account of their experiences.  This leads to a more thorough request to the court for a protection order, and in turn improved enforcement by the police officers who are better informed by the contents of the petition and the order.”

Left to right: Linda Wilk, Director of Hands of Hope, Family Service Society, Inc.; Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., Indiana Supreme Court; Kerry Hyatt Blomquist, Legal Director of the Indiana Coalition Against Violence.

How it works

An advocate with access to the system is able to interview the person seeking protection while completing an online form through INcite, Indiana’s court extranet.  The interview includes a description of events, the relationship of the parties, answers to the standard questions found on the protection order coversheet, and other details needed for the protection order.   The online system generates a signature ready PDF petition and a confidential form that can be filed in the clerk’s office by either the victim or the victim’s advocate.

Once the petition is filed with the clerk of court, the clerk can import the electronic petition into the Protection Order Registry, assign a court case number, and immediately forward the petition to the judge for review and approval.  For counties using the Odyssey case management system, a new feature is being piloted in DeKalb and Warren counties where the judge and clerk can exchange the case data between the POR and Odyssey. Following the pilot, this new functionality will be released to all counties that are using Odyssey.

To learn more about JTAC’s Protection Order Registry project, visit courts.in.gov/jtac.