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Regular Agenda Item 2. A.

Regular BOS Meeting

Meeting Date:	09/01/2020
Submitted For:	Jonathan Bearup	Submitted By:	Jonathan Bearup, Court Administrator
Department:	Superior Court	Division:	Superior Court Administration

Information

Request/Subject

The Superior Court is seeking the Board of Supervisors' approval of the FY 2021 "Fill the Gap" grant application.

Background Information

Arizona's courts continue to transition towards a higher degree of automation in court operations. Digital document management will ultimately displace the previous system of paper files and court processes must adapt to those circumstances. The digitization of case files and case documents is accomplished through scanning.

In 2015, Court Administration and the limited jurisdiction courts of Gila County developed an approach to proactively begin the movement towards digital case management. Fill the Gap grant funding has been utilized for the past five years to operate the "Disconnected Scanning Program" in which limited jurisdiction courts were provided with an additional scanning station. At the time (2015), Gila County was only the third County in the State to have all of its constituent courts participating in scanning processes of some degree.

Evaluation

During the five-year course of the program, the limited jurisdiction courts of the County (Globe Justice Court, Miami Magistrate Court, Winkelman Magistrate Court, Hayden Magistrate Court, Globe Magistrate Court, Payson Justice Court, Payson Municipal Court, and Star Valley Magistrate Court) all received funding for supplemental scanners on an annual basis and initiated "paperless" business processes. In August 2019, the limited jurisdiction courts received the new digital case management system, AJACS. Thanks to the Disconnected Scanning Program, Gila County courts had developed substantial digital case libraries and were able to avoid labor-intensive back scanning. These courts have also experienced a cost-savings (as paper file use receded) and both Justice Courts consolidated shelving, wall space as files were digitized. The courts would like to continue with this grant-funded program as the additional scanning devices greatly increase capacity and have become integral to digital case processing.

Conclusion

In order to continue the movement towards automated court operations, and to maintain the current levels of digital data entry, Court Administration believes it is in the best interest of the County to continue operating a supplemental digital scanning program in all limited jurisdiction courts.

Recommendation

The Superior Court recommends that the Gila County Board of Supervisors approve the grant application which would allow the courts scanning efforts to continue.

Suggested Motion

Information/Discussion/Action to approve the Superior Court's FY 2021 "Fill the Gap" Grant Application for enhanced criminal case scanning in the amount of $3,843.75. (Jon Bearup)

Attachments
FY21 Fill the Gap Grant Application