Officials in Georgia's state, superior and juvenile courts are using the latest in information technology to help put a lid on crime.
Several counties this summer will gain online access to a new management information system that will for the first time allow Georgia counties to systematically pool information about criminal activity and other court-related matters.
Although the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) maintains an electronic database, its information is focused on sentencing and dispositions. The new database goes beyond that, making a wealth of case-related data readily available to Georgia court officials via the Internet.
Designed by senior research scientist Lisa Sills and her team in the Information Technology and Telecommunication Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the database is comprised of a TCP/IP network that can be used by account holders — primarily judges and clerks — anywhere they have Internet access.
"The more information we have, the better decisions we can make," said Judge Hilton Fuller, a DeKalb County Superior Court judge and chairman of the Georgia Courts Automation Commission, which is funding the project.
Before now, Georgia courts have not had electronic access to criminal activity information from other counties. With the new database, officials will be able to obtain more complete information about a suspect's record, Sills said. For example, a suspect arrested by one county may have a history of violent behavior or be under warrant for arrest in another county. The database would quickly reveal this, alerting intake officers not to let that person out on bail.
Previously, the only way to get such information from another county has been via telephone, which is time-consuming and offers no guarantee of details. "Even if you pick up the phone, there's no way to really know the extent of the problems," Fuller noted. "State-collected data, by the nature of the current collection process, is often quite stale and always limited."
Our mobile society also adds to the problems, Fuller added. "We no longer have to ride a mule to get to south Georgia. It is not unusual for litigants to be or to have been involved in civil or criminal matters in several Georgia counties."
Researchers split the database into two major sections: one for juvenile court and one for state and superior courts. Information can be tracked either by a case docket number or the names of the individuals involved.
Under case history, the database indicates whether a bench or jury trial was held, specific events of the trial, outcome and any changes in original sentencing. Entries for individuals also include date of birth, gender, known aliases and a complete record of charges.
The juvenile section tracks dates of foster parents along with "interested persons," who might include parents, guardians and attorneys. "It's helpful for officials to know who watches out for a child on a daily basis, something that changes frequently," Sills said. "If kids aren't at one location, this gives an alternative place to look." The database also tracks gang information, which is becoming increasingly more important as gang activity spreads, she added.
Having such information at their fingertips enables officials to view cases from a broader perspective. For example, a juvenile judge might be able to discern that a shoplifting incident resulted from deprivation rather than delinquency. The net result is that justice is better dispensed, Sills said.
The database also can be used as a "confidence level test," enabling a judge to ask questions about a defendant's history and see if the person is answering truthfully.
Some other aspects of the database are:
- Civil suits are tracked in the state and superior court portion,
revealing a complete listing of plaintiffs and defendants. One advantage
to having this data is the ability to see whether a particular
individual is prone to involvement in lawsuits.
- There's also a prototype of a public component. Certain forms for probate court are being automated, beginning with decedent estate management. This will allow citizens access to forms via the Web so they can fill them out at home rather than having to go to a courthouse.
Sills expects production release of the database to begin in June with six counties online in the state and superior courts section, and five in the juvenile court section. The ultimate goal is to capture 85 to 90 percent of all filings within Georgia.
Because courts throughout Georgia vary in computer sophistication, the database was designed to be user-friendly. "There's a lot of flexibility when searching for information," Sills said. For example, officials can search for cases by either their docket number or by an individual's name. If officials don't know a person's full name, they can still locate the individual by using a partial or phonetic spelling.
Even though the database uses existing technology and network security, it remains a highly complex project that has been in the works for two years. "The method of capturing the data was extremely difficult," said Sills, explaining that information had to be imported from existing county systems, which required an automated system to be in place first. "There are many kinds of systems out there.... Integrating their data into ours is challenging."
Besides helping to administer justice, the database will assist in a variety of reporting functions, beginning with case counting.
Information from the database will also flow back to GCIC. Again, its standardized format will pay off by reducing reporting time and increasing accuracy. "By bringing some standardization, we can rely better on all the data that comes in," Fuller noted.
The database will also serve as a communication system, he added. "We'll be able to pass information between the courts, as well as the database. That's also an important part of this tool."