Technology Developments in Sacramento County Superior Court
by Judge Ron Robie

Courts today are deeply involved in improving their efficiency and public access through technology. The Sacramento Superior Court is no exception.

Electronic Filing

Our court is a real pioneer. Our electronic filing for small claims cases has been on line for several months. This is a natural extension of the "Paperless" small claims court, which has been operating for more than a year. Spurred on by Judge Joe Gray, computers were installed in the court for use by persons filing small claims cases. Documents are scanned and returned to the filer. It made sense to permit filing on-line since the court was paperless already. Take a look at the court website (Saccourt.com) for this feature.

The Judicial Council, of which I am a member, is developing rules for electronic access to the courts and these will soon be available for comment.

Access to Court Records

Of course, tentative rulings in the law and motion departments (53 and 54), the presiding judge calendar (47), ACT rulings (20, 34, 44, 47), probate notes (124) and my writ calendar (41) have been available on the website for several years.

The Court website also can be used to get information about civil and criminal cases. If you know the year the case was filed you can search criminal cases filed since 1993 (current up to the last 45 days). Civil cases are available since 1992 (superior court) and 1996 (municipal court). Probate cases are available from 1991 and family law cases since 1993. These are current up to the last 21 days.

General Information

The Court website includes many other features including, for example, local rules of court, instructions for specific court activities such as filing an appeal, juror information, and details where each type of case is heard. The scope of the website is regularly expanded.

Interdepartmental Activities

Our Court is part of a program sponsored by the County Criminal Justice Cabinet to better integrate the computer systems of the various agencies in the criminal justice system. This long-term project will reduce duplication, save cost, and result in better information. The first phase is a project between the court and the district attorney whereby criminal complaints will be filed electronically by the district attorney. It will be on-line in a few weeks.

Judges

For more than a decade the California Center for Judicial Education and Research, an activity of the Administrative Office of the Courts has conducted computer classes for judges. All judges on our court have access to a computer on the bench and in chambers. Judges can do on-line research while in court, for example. If an attorney provides a citation, the case can be printed out in a few minutes. Many judges, including myself, no longer receive printed advance sheets and bound appellate reports, preferring to do the research on line. Decisions of the State Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal are posted on the Internet daily and a judge on the bench can have instant access to them.

A jury instruction program is available to both judges and court clerks and instructions are now being prepared more rapidly and accurately than ever before.

The court is proud of its accomplishments and looks forward to progressive development of the use of technology to improve public access.

saccourt.com