NASCIO 2014 State IT Recognition Awards

Title: Barcode and RFID Tracking System

Category: Cross-boundary Collaboration and Partnerships

Contact: John Matelski jmatelski@dekalbcountyga.gov 404.371.6210

Project Initiation Date: August 2010

Project Completion Date: March 2013

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The State Court in DeKalb County has partnered with the Magistrate Court of DeKalb County, the DeKalb County Clerk of Courts Office and the DeKalb County Marshal’s Office to automate the process of tracking warrants, other service papers and case files through barcoding and radio frequency identification (RFID). The project is the first of its kind in the nation.

A barcode is attached to each warrant, or other service papers, for delivery by the Marshal’s Office. As deputies complete their deliveries, they use a handheld, barcode scanning device to scan the documents and data is automatically transmitted to a case management system. The Marshal’s Office delivers more than 75,000 documents each year.

An RFID tag is also affixed to every case file in the State Court and the Magistrate Court. The tags are automatically read by RFID antennas and the location of the case file is fed into a document tracking application. Court officials use the search function on a handheld device to locate particular case files. The systems were

intentionally designed for information from the case management system to be shared with the document tracking system.

The use of barcodes by the Marshal’s Office and RFID tags by the courts was planned and implemented as a single project to improve operational efficiencies through seamless, complementary processes that help ensure the timely resolution of court cases. The new technology and business processes also enable court officials to provide the general public with greater transparency into judicial processes by ultimately linking the data gathered by the barcodes and the RFID tags to a public-facing website where anyone can search for information about the status of court cases.

The collaboration among the State Court, the Magistrate Court, the Clerk of Courts Office and the Marshal’s Office is a model for other collaborative efforts between state courts and local officials throughout Georgia and the nation.

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The Marshal’s Office delivers more than 75,000 documents each year.

BUSINESS PROBLEM AND SOLUTION DESCRIPTION

Keeping track of the numerous documents and files associated with legal actions as they wind their way through court proceedings can be an enormously confusing and frustrating challenge. To lessen the challenge, the State Court and the Magistrate Court of DeKalb County have partnered with the DeKalb County Marshal’s Office to use barcoding to track Service of Process documents. As a result, officials in the Clerk of Courts Office and the Marshal’s Office can quickly and easily determine the status of warrants and other service papers.

Here’s how it all works.

The Marshal’s Office receives multi-part paper warrants daily from the Clerk of Courts Office, which serves both the State Court and the Magistrate Court. DeKalb County uses Banner, a case management system, to print a barcode for each warrant. Personnel in the Marshal’s Office sort the warrants by zip code and place them in bins. Deputies take stacks of warrants from the bins and deliver them. As deputies deliver warrants and other service papers, they use a Motorola MC55A handheld, barcode scanning device to scan the documents. The device transmits data to the case management database. Deputies then return the remainder of the multi-part form to the Clerk of Courts Office, where it’s filed and ready for circulation to officials in either the State Court or the Magistrate Court.

Meanwhile, staff in both the State Court and the Magistrate Court can just as quickly and easily locate case files. An RFID tag is affixed to every case file; the tags are automatically read by RFID antennas that are strategically located throughout the courthouse, and the location of the case file is fed into a document tracking application.

Court officials who need a particular case file then use the search function on a handheld device to locate it. The device emits an audible alarm when it finds a case file, and it can read data programmed into barcodes. The systems were intentionally designed for information from the case management system to be shared with the document tracking system.

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Marshal’s Office training.

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The project team included various levels of contributors from each group of stakeholders. The team consisted of an IT project manager; two project sponsors representing the State Court and the Marshal’s Office; and IT functional and technical

staff from networks, security, server support, database administration, applications development and the web team. Additional personnel from the State Court, the Magistrate Court, the Marshal’s Office and the purchasing department also served on the project team.

The IT project manager facilitated an extensive requirements-gathering process, which took over five months to complete. She utilized numerous data-gathering techniques, including facility tours, floor plan reviews, day-to-day operations interviews – including

riding along with deputies – business process reviews and gathering all appropriate paperwork from the Marshal’s Office, the State Court and the Magistrate Court. The IT project manager developed process flow diagrams and completed several requirements reviews with the project team.

A subcommittee of the project team developed an extremely detailed Request for Proposal. Once the vendor was chosen, the vendor’s project manager and business analyst conducted a follow-up review and tweaked the requirements.

The budget for the project totaled $225,000.

SIGNIFICANCE

The DeKalb County Marshal’s Office serves over 75,000 documents each year, and before using barcodes and RFID technology, deputies and state court officials lacked an efficient and reliable way to track the documents. It meant plaintiffs and others directly connected to a court case did not always receive accurate, current information about the delivery of important documents in civil court proceedings.

Barcodes and RFID technology are also making it possible for court officials to provide the public with greater transparency into court proceedings.

Magistrate Court scanning in service papers.

Meanwhile, the Clerk of Courts Office is responsible for maintaining an equal number of case files, which are moved to and from multiple locations during the life of each particular case. To provide some perspective on the challenge of tracking these case files, the State Court has seven trial divisions, and each division has its own judge and courtroom. In turn, each judge has a suite of offices with numerous staff. The Magistrate Court has two courtrooms and two judges, each with his or her own chambers and supporting offices

The use of RFID technology makes it possible for court officials to determine the location of critical case files as they are moved from courtrooms to judges’ chambers to staff and the Clerk of Courts Office. As a result, any delays in the timely resolution of civil suits cannot be blamed on missing case files.

The system uses industry standard, passive 13.35 MHz RFID tags, which meet ISO 15693-2 and ISO 18000-3 standards. Additional features include:

• Lockable fields into which a permanent item identification number can be encoded

• Password-protected fields

• Data security

• Integration of the label with an adhesive backing that easily sticks to materials

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In the first project of its kind in the nation, deputies use a handheld barcode scanning device to scan a barcode on documents as they are delivered, and the device transmits data to the county’s case management database. The case management system shares information with the DeKalb County Online Judicial System (OJS), a web-based service that allows members of the public – such as attorneys, parties to cases and news media – to access information about pending cases (http://www.ojs.dekalbga.org).

State court clerk’s office applying bar codes to service papers.

BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT

The use of barcodes in the handling of warrants and other service papers means officials in the Clerk of Courts Office and the Marshal’s Office can quickly and easily determine their status. When the information gathered through the barcodes is transmitted to the county’s case management system, court officials can know precisely where a particular document is in the legal process and how long civil papers are in the field before their return to the Clerk of Courts Office.

Affixing an RFID tag to every case file enables officials in the State Court and the Magistrate Court to find a particular file using a handheld device.

The use of technology to automate the tracking of court documents enhances operational efficiency in the State Court, the Magistrate Court, the Clerk of Courts Office and the Marshal’s Office. Enhanced operational efficiency helps ensure the timely resolution of court cases.

Court officials are also able to provide the general public with greater transparency into judicial processes since the information gathered through the tracking system is ultimately shared with a public-facing website that anyone can use to determine the status of a particular court case.

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Enhanced operational efficiency helps ensure the timely resolution of court cases.