For those who have not been attentive to the goings on at the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD), implementation of statewide eCourt may seem more like a dream than a reality.  But truth be told, real progress is happening.

One huge step forward?  The selection earlier this year of Tyler’s Odyssey^® Court Management System, as a single-solution provider:

“The contract between Tyler and the State of Oregon is valued at approximately $31 million, which includes software and implementation. The new agreement positions Odyssey to become a foundation of Oregon’s eCourt program by delivering deep functionality from Odyssey modules, including Case Management, Financial Management, Enterprise Content Management and eFiling. In addition, Odyssey will provide Oregon courts with ePayments, a decision support system, a statewide jury management system, an integration framework that enables electronic communication and exchange of information between Odyssey and existing justice partner information systems, and a unified Web portal to further enhance court access for the public and the legal community.”

Read the complete Tyler Technologies press release here.

What is Oregon eCourt?

When fully operational, Oregon eCourt will serve as a 24/7 web-based courthouse permitting online access to documents and case records, court information and court calendars, case-related filing and payment services, multilingual guides, online forms, and online self-help – based on individual user authorization.

How Will We Get There and Where are We Now?

Odyssey will clearly play a big role in the future development of Oregon eCourt.  As we look forward to the next five years, give credit to the hard work already done:

• August 2008 – efiling begins in the Oregon Supreme Court for all Oregon State Bar members.
• January 2009 – efiling begins in the Oregon Court of Appeals.
• August 2009 – electronic content management begins on a modest scale in Yamhill County.
• August 2009 – Oregon’s 40 (separate and previously unequal) Judicial Department Web sites are finally in sync — each conforming to the same format and navigation design for easier use.
• September 2009 – June 2010 – additional Circuit Courts dip their toes into electronic case management.
• January-February 2011 – Tyler Technologies is selected as a single-solution provider to complete Oregon eCourt in three phases over the next five years.
• April 2011 – the best development to date:  the OJD launches a new Web site with much-improved navigation, links, and content.

The new user-friendly OJD Web site features:

• A convenient Court Information Finder with 24 hour general information, maps, parking, and fee rates.
• Information for Jurors
• Self Help
• Links to Forms
• Special Resources for Families and Children
• Links to Court Interpreters
• And my personal favorite: the ability to search all Circuit Court Calendars in the system by attorney name, date, county, or party name.  (Searches by attorney name are limited to the first three attorneys on a case; parties may only be searched by the first plaintiff and first defendant listed.  Limitations, yes.  But folks: this is still a terrific tool and far superior to the Oregon Judicial Information Network (OJIN online).

Not sure what to choose?  Click on one of these icons:

Or choose How do I?

You can keep up with Oregon eCourt developments here, read about the technology, keep tabs on the latest projects, get answers to frequently asked questions,  or check out the latest statistics.  (Over 2,400 documents were efiled in the Oregon Supreme Court and Oregon Court of Appeals in January 2011.)

I am thrilled to see this progress and look forward to the future successes of Oregon eCourt.

Copyright 2011 Beverly Michaelis