Franklin County’s criminal justice system is looking for a technology upgrade that will be easier to use and save on maintenance costs.
Franklin County Commissioners approved spending about $400,000 on Tuesday to hire a project manager to help the county write a request for proposals from technology companies to replace its case management software.
“Our case management system that we have is an old system using old language and it was basically a system constructed and built in-house,” said Judge Guy Reece, chair of the eGovernance board that will oversee the project.
Maintenance costs are higher on the current system because it is based on an outdated programming language, said Mike Pifher, information technology director for the Court of Common Pleas Common general division.
The current case management system also has three different interfaces depending on which office is using it. Those working in the clerk of courts office, for example, have to type codes into the system to retrieve information. The public can access docket information through an online system.
“It’s not a modern, user-friendly interface. There are a lot of limitations from a functionality standpoint that a lot of off-the-shelf systems have today like scheduling or on-the-bench interfaces for the judges,” Pifher said.
The new system is expected to cost about $8 million.
“It seems that old system was very workable for many years and now we’re at a different time,” Commissioner Marilyn Brown said. “It makes sense to invest now in the new system.”
Commissioners also approved spending $400,000 to lease copiers for the Department of Job and Family Services over five years, though Commissioner Paula Brooks questioned the expense.
“We need to know these items are essential,” she said.
County Administrator Ken Wilson called the copiers a “necessary administrative expense.”
The contract with Xerox Corp. will give the agency 27 copiers that require an employee badge to use. That will cut down on abandoned print jobs, said Lance Porter, spokesman for the department.
Both Brooks and Brown voted in favor of the contract. Commissioner John O’Grady was not at the meeting.
“I believe it is essential that we have the ability to process things in a timely way,” Brown said.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Rick Rouan
Quelle/Source: The Columbus Dispatch, 05.01.2016
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
