Washington Courts: News and Information

Snohomish County launches modern case management system for Superior Court and County Clerk’s Office

May 05, 2016

EVERETT, Wash. — Staff members of the Snohomish County Clerk’s Office and Superior Court began working live in a new modern case management system this month that will be implemented in nearly every county in the state by 2018. Snohomish is the fifth county — and by far the largest in caseload — to implement the new system.

 

The Odyssey system provides modern information-sharing abilities between courts across the state, as well as vital case management functions not available on the 1970s case processing system still being used by most Washington superior courts and county clerk offices. Though members of the public and businesses may experience some minor changes in their interactions with the court and County Clerk’s Office, the primary difference for Washingtonians will be behind the scenes in better communication between courts from different counties, more efficient case management and monitoring, much improved scheduling, better access to data, and much more.

 

The system is next scheduled to be implemented in Spokane, Whitman, Garfield, Asotin and Columbia counties in October 2016.

 

“This implementation has been a true partnership between Snohomish County Superior Court and the County Clerk’s office. Odyssey replaces four legacy systems, one of which is nearly 40 years old,” said Snohomish County Clerk Sonya Kraski. “My office looks forward to the improved technological services this will allow us to provide in the future, such as e-filing.”

 

Snohomish County Superior Court Administrator Marilyn Finsen added, “This change has been coming for years. We’ve been a part of this project since 2010, through the development and now we’re live. No change happens without a few hiccups, but I look forward to how we can use this technology to improve the services to the justice system and community.” 

    

The current case processing system used by most Washington superior courts was built by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in the 1970s and was considered cutting edge at that time, but is now expensive to maintain and repair and does not have the badly needed functionality of a modern system.

 

Odyssey was developed by Tyler Technologies specifically for court case management and has been implemented by courts in states around the U.S., most recently in Oregon. The system was chosen for Washington superior courts after an extensive search and evaluation process involving leaders and technology workers from courts and county clerk offices around the state. The search for a modern case management system for Washington superior courts began in 2010 at the request of the Superior Court Judges’ Association, the Washington State Association of County Clerks and the Association of Washington Superior Court Administrators.

 

The Odyssey system was piloted in Lewis County in June 2015, and was successfully implemented in Franklin, Thurston and Yakima counties in November 2015. The system is working well in all locations — with expected system and process adjustments needed in major technology implementations — thanks to the hard work of the county clerks and court staff members.

 

“So far we are very pleased with how well the roll out has gone. Judicial officers, staff and clerks have been patient about dealing with the expected and unexpected issues,” said Snohomish County Superior Court Presiding Judge Linda Krese. “We are optimistic that as we become more familiar with the system that most problems will be resolved. In the long run, Odyssey should enable us to serve the citizens of Snohomish County better and more efficiently.”

 

Snohomish County staff members worked hard preparing for the complexity of a large technology implementation, said Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne.

 

“Snohomish County has been able to take full advantage of lessons learned from the Odyssey launches in Lewis, Franklin, Thurston, and Yakima counties, as well as several counties in Oregon,” he said. “With 20 judicial officers and the concurrent initiation of a paper-on-demand system, our court felt it was vital to prepare by exposing all judicial officers to the rich functionality available in Odyssey before the official ‘Go Live’ training. We appreciate the responsiveness of Tyler and AOC in resolving the issues that have presented themselves during the ‘Go Live’ process.”

 

Staff members from Tyler Technologies and the Administrative Office of the Courts will remain on site in Snohomish County through May 13, supporting the Snohomish County staff members during the initial implementation, and then will continue to provide support from AOC and Tyler offices in Olympia and Texas.

 

Preparations for the next implementations of Odyssey are well underway for the five counties involved. For more information, visit the SC-CMS web page at www.courts.wa.gov/sccms .

 

“Complex technology implementations are not easy, but this will help our courts function much more efficiently and sustainably into the future,” said Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst, chair of the Judicial Information System Committee. “We look forward to reporting back to the people of Washington as the rollout continues across the state.”

 

CONTACTS: Lorrie Thompson, senior communications officer, Administrative Office of the Courts, (360) 705-5347, Lorrie.Thompson@courts.wa.gov.

 

 

Privacy and Disclaimer NoticesSitemap

© Copyright 2024. Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts.

S3