Juvenile, county magistrate court dumps Iron Data for other software, uses budget savings
The Polk County Board of Commissioners approved two different court- related budget changes that will allow the Juvenile Court and the County Magistrate Court to discontinue their use of Iron Data court management software for new choices.
Commissioners approved a item approved by the public safety committee during their Aug. 4 session that will allow the magistrate court to spend $10,000 this year for web-based software that will make filing warrants, tracking budgets and more much easier for the court.
The unanimous decision gave the court the opportunity to go with a software company called CJT for their new court management soft- ware. Chief magistrate court judge Jean Crane said the court will be much more efficient with the new program, allowing judges to sign warrants electronically and have them sworn by officers over video conferencing software like Skype.
Crane said previously the switch will greatly reduce the amount of time during the middle of the night when warrants are needed by police in getting them filed in the field.
In an item from the finance committee, the board approved changes in the juvenile court budget to allow for the court to also discontinue service with Iron Data and use a new free product instead.
The court asked for the change – and provided savings within their budget to pay for a full time position – during a July 15 meeting between the committee, Judge Mark Murphy and Seana Campbell, the Juvenile Clerk of Court.
Campbell told the board that through savings generated by switching software used for case management to a free product, and by not hiring a replacement for Judge Robert Monroe of the juvenile court, they have enough money left over to convert what was a part time position to full time.
“This position does a lot, they process all the paperwork on cases, they keep up with the court’s calendar maintenance for requests for hearings or continuances,” she said. “We need the help.”
The court was previously using Iron Data for case management soft- ware which cost $3,000 a year in upkeep, but have since changed to a free system that allows them to update for free and is more in line with what other courts in the state are already using.
The problem, as Campbell explained to the board, is that the amount of paperwork required in juvenile court cases is much more than that of the municipal, probate or superior courts. If a new position isn’t approved by the full board – or at least the change in money for it – then the court faces long backlogs on filings and paperwork due to not having enough employees to do the work.
Judge Murphy also said the court will be saving money by not looking to hire back the associate judge position at all, but will instead set up a citizens review panel for cases after they have come before associate judge Chuck Morris or Murphy.
He said the idea is to create two panels of three volunteers who will keep up with the cases after they go before a judge for a first hearing or appearance, then will allow the panel to make future choices with periodic reviews from Morris and Murphy.
The judge told the committee the review panels would be required to go through training sessions before being allowed to sit and work on cases. He said that change in Georgia law during the 2014 legislative session allowed for the review panels, and thus the $10,000 in savings that would have been paid to another judge.
“We’re looking to start implementing this plan in September,” Murphy said.
Though commissioners Jason Ward and Marshelle Thaxton – the two members of the finance committee from the full board – asked a few questions about how the money was being shifted around, they approved the change which was later unanimously voted on by the full board.
Even with a new hire, the juvenile court stands to save more than $15,000 by switching from a part to a full time position at the clerk level, mainly due to the savings in holding off on hiring a new associate judge and in the software change.