"The ability of not just attorneys, but litigants to access their files, to file documents and to pay what they need to pay electronically is going to make the process much more efficient.” – Judge Forrest Burt
Geauga County Common Pleas Court will soon have a technology upgrade thanks to a grant from the Ohio Supreme Court’s Ohio Courts Technology Initiative.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor delivered Geauga County’s check for $143,979.99 during a brief ceremony Tuesday.
“I am pleased to personally present the check on behalf of the supreme court. It is important that we support local court technology projects to remove any barriers to the efficient and effective administration of justice,” O’Connor told those gathered in common pleas court Judge Forrest Burt’s second floor courtroom.
The technology grant program has received more than 100 applications and has awarded over 35 grants to date, totaling more than $900,000, O’Connor said, noting Geauga County received one of the larger checks.
The chief justice explained the money for the grant program initially was allocated to the supreme court’s budget to be utilized for another purpose.
“That purpose wasn’t ready to utilize this money, so we decided that we were going to grant it to local courts to assist with your technology efforts,” O’Connor said.
Burt, who serves as the court’s presiding judge, said Geauga County was excited to have been selected to receive the Ohio Supreme Court’s technology grant.
“One of the themes that the chief (justice) has been speaking about in the last couple of years particularly, and over her entire term, is access to justice,” he said. “A big part of that access will be accomplished through what we are doing. The ability of not just attorneys, but litigants to access their files, to file documents and to pay what they need to pay electronically is going to make the process much more efficient.”
The grant money will be used to buy equipment so that the court can offer electronic document filing to attorneys and self-represented litigants, 24/7 docket access and online payment services, O’Connor explained.
“That’s what this money is going to do and I’m very pleased to award you with it,” O’Connor said. “We had a grant process in place and many, many courts applied for this, and appellate, common pleas and municipal courts were all eligible to apply.”
O’Connor also commended the court’s Court Information Technology department for submitting an application with all the information to enable the supreme court to decide the project was something it wanted to fund.
“We just had a report issued by the Access to Justice Task Force and pro se litigants’ access to court records and information was a big part of the recommendations of that task force, so this is perfectly in keeping with what the recommendations are,” she said.
Grant applications are being accepted through May 15, with final award notifications made by May 31. A screening committee is reviewing the applications on an ongoing basis, the chief justice said.
The funding is available to any court of appeals, common pleas court, municipal court or county court. Examples of projects that could be considered include connection to Ohio Courts Network, electronic kiosks for self-represented litigants and electronic transfer of final disposition data to the Computerized Criminal History database.
