Implementation of the Electronic Court Record in the Juvenile Court in Maricopa County
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CLIMATE CHANGE: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ELECTRONIC COURT RECORD IN THE JUVENILE COURT IN MARICOPA COUNTY Institute for Court Management ICM Fellows Program 2013-2014 Court Project Phase May 2014 Debora Wells-Guevara Juvenile Services Administrator Maricopa County Clerk of the Court Phoenix, Arizona Acknowledgments I thank Michael Jeanes, Clerk of the Superior Court, Maricopa County and Chief Deputy, Chris Kelly, for their leadership, commitment to professional development and encouragement. Both are role models for leading and managing change and visionaries for the Clerk’s Office and the Superior Court. I am grateful to them for allowing me the opportunity to take on the challenge of completing the Fellows Program. I thank my colleagues in the Clerk’s Office, Mark Jensen, EDM Manager and Dorothy King, Business Analyst. Mark was generous of his time and extraordinarily patient talking through many questions and Dorothy has been an extraordinary resource for all things in Juvenile Court operations. I thank the staff at the National Center for State Courts, and in particular, Daniel Straub, my project advisor, who provided insight and guidance. Also, Amy McDowell and Joan Cochet, who were of great help to me. I acknowledge my classmates for their support during all phases of the program, especially Johnny Tse, who was helpful with Microsoft Word and Excel. And my colleague, Stacey Brady, who kindly read through my document. Finally, to my husband and children, you encouraged, assisted and supported me. You are the best! “Nothing is accomplished unless you first try.” - Anonymous iii iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .................................................................................................. v List of Figures ......................................................................................................... viii List of Tables .......................................................................................................... ix Abstract .................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 7 Literature Review ................................................................................................... 10 Historical Development of the Federal Courts Electronic Record ................ 10 The Movement in State Courts .................................................................... 12 Access v. Privacy ........................................................................................ 15 Cultural Shifts ............................................................................................... 18 Savings ................................................................................................ 23 Methods ................................................................................................................. 25 Interviews ............................................................................................................... 25 Designing the Interview Questions .............................................................. 25 Obtaining Consent from Participants ........................................................... 26 Conducting the Interviews ........................................................................... 26 Observation ................................................................................................. 26 Archival Data .......................................................................................................... 27 v Arizona Supreme Court Groundwork for ECR ............................................... 27 Maricopa County Clerk of Court Adult Strategic Plan .................................... 28 Clerk of Court ECR Project Planning and Development ................................ 33 Maricopa County Clerk of Court Adult Project Implementation ...................... 33 EFiling in Maricopa County Adult Court ......................................................... 34 Maricopa County Juvenile Court ................................................................... 37 Maricopa County Clerk of Court Juvenile ECR Project Implementation ........ 39 Judicial Officer Survey Questions and Responses ................................................. 42 Findings .................................................................................................................. 42 Finding Number 1 ........................................................................................ 42 Finding Number 2 ......................................................................................... 42 Finding Number 3 ......................................................................................... 43 Finding Number 4 ........................................................................................ 43 Finding Number 5 ........................................................................................ 47 Finding Number 6 ....................................................................................... 50 Finding Number 7 ......................................................................................... 51 Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................53 Conclusion Number 1 ...................................................................................53 Recommendation Number 1 .........................................................................53 Conclusion Number 2 ...................................................................................54 vi Recommendation Number 2..........................................................................54 Conclusion Number 3 ..................................................................................55 Recommendation 3 ......................................................................................55 Conclusion Number 4 ..................................................................................56 Recommendation Number 4 ........................................................................56 References .............................................................................................................57 Appendix A: List of Interviews ................................................................................61 Appendix A1: Notes from Interview of Michael Jeanes ..........................................62 Appendix A2: Notes of Interview of Christine Kelly.................................................68 Appendix A3: Notes of Interview of Mark Jensen ...................................................71 Appendix A4: Notes of Interview of Dorothy King ...................................................75 Appendix A5: Notes of Interview of Colleen McNally..............................................79 Appendix A6: Notes of Interview of Diana Hegyi ....................................................83 Appendix B: Judicial Officer Survey Questions and Responses ............................85 Appendix C: Administrative Orders from Arizona Supreme Court ..........................87 vii List of Figures Figure 1: Total Adult Electronic Documents 2011-12 .............................................31 Figure 2: Total Copies Juvenile & Adult 2010-2013 ...............................................31 Figure 3: Total Files Delivered Juvenile & Adult 2010-2013 ...................................32 Figure 4: Number of Minute Entries Created …………………………………………32 Figure 5: File Room Photograph ……………………………………………………….44 Figure 6: Paper Process and ECR Process …………………………………………..46 Figure 7: EFile Flow Chart Part I .………………………………………………………48 Figure 8: EFile Flow Chart Part II.………………………………………………………49 viii List of Tables Table 1: OnBase Growth 2002-2013 ....................................................................... 35 Table 2: Comparison of E-Filing Statistics, January………………………………….. 39 Table 3: Implementation Comparison..………………………………………………….55 ix CLIMATE CHANGE: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ELECTRONIC COURT RECORD IN THE JUVENILE COURT IN MARICOPA COUNTY Debora Wells-Guevara Abstract The Maricopa County Clerk of the Superior Court engaged in a transformative process converting paper court documents and records to electronic or digital images over a period of time that spans more than 10 years. The changes to the court culture, the community and the court’s justice partners have been significant. The organization and strategic planning of the process changes, preparation of the Clerk’s office staff, court staff, and court community and implementation of the changes have led to several improvements which have both unified and divided the court. The Maricopa County Clerk of Court implemented a series of projects that created the adult court electronic court record (ECR). Lessons learned from the adult court implementation assisted with the later juvenile court implementation. Both projects included management of the change in court culture and the development of the technology. This paper explores the culture change in the Maricopa County Clerk of Court and the Maricopa County Superior Court and the evolution of the (ECR). Included is an examination of the concepts of change management of John Kotter and Cynthia Scott. Consideration was given to their recommendations