The massive, decentralized court system of Texas poses a great challenge in the coordination of the various and on-going information technology efforts. JCIT will connect and serve 20,000 court officials and staff in 2,800 courts in 1,750 locations in Texas.
JCIT's plan is to meld an integrated justice information system from existing and future investments by local, state, and federal governments. This system will enhance the courts' ability to serve the citizens through better public safety and to provide more public access. The issues identified in the extensive needs analysis will be solved.
An integrated system will enable data sharing among courts and their customers to better serve a Texas citizenry that is very mobile. Executive branch agencies have attempted to integrate their information systems with courts to improve the functions of law enforcement, juvenile justice, child support, and foster care because of their reliance on the courts to conduct their vital government services. In the past, each executive agency had deal with each jurisdiction individually. The creation of standards by JCIT will solve much of the mystery of exchanging data with the courts.
JCIT has clarified the roles of local, state, and federal governments in moving the Texas courts to an integrated justice system. Investments must be made at all of these levels to achieve the goals set forth by JCIT and the Legislature. The Judicial Committee on Court Funding voted JCIT's budget request as its number one funding priority for the 76th Legislature.
The Judicial Committee on Information Technology and the Office of Court Administration
are fulfilling the mandate of the Judicial Efficiency Act (Chapter 77, Government Code) to
implement information technology systematically into the courts of Texas. Already,
significant progress has been made with the initial funding and resources. The second
biennium (fiscal years 2000 & 2001) of funding, $19 million, will further enable JCIT
to complete the initial implementation by 2003.
Revenues for JCIT's 1998-1999 biennium appropriation of $3.5 million were generated entirely by Texas trial courts from the Time Payment Fee. This fee, which was also created by Senate Bill 1417, is collected by district, county, justice of the peace and municipal courts when someone convicted of a crime is granted additional time to pay fines and court costs. (The fee was suggested by the Information Technology Task Force of the Commission to be a dedicated funding mechanism for court technology; the fee was passed but not dedicated.) Fifty percent of this court fee is remitted to the state, the remaining 50% is kept locally. The Comptroller of Public Accounts has estimated that this fee will generate $13,713,000 for the state in the next biennium ($6,768,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $6,945,000 for fiscal year 2001).
Federal grants may become available in fiscal year 2000 to assist states and local governments with the implementation of integrated information systems for criminal justice functions. Without a statewide plan which incorporates the courts and the prosecutors, Texas will be unable to access federal grant money for criminal justice integration projects. Again, the primary impact will be to local governments trying to access this federal money to improve government services to their local citizens. This is the function that the Judicial Committee on Information Technology and the Office of Court Administration perform.
Finally, in addition to providing seed money for federal grants, this budget request will bring efficiencies, increased revenue collection, and cost savings to local governments and the state. The project does not just support judicial functions. The most demanding and important functions of court data support public safety, law enforcement, child support, juvenile justice, mental health, eldercare monitoring in guardianships, and various other executive branch functions. These crucial government services can be hobbled by the lack of accurate, timely court data and its ability to be shared for public safety and other reasons.
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JCIT's Annual Report
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