e-Court Automation

Forsyth County Clerk of Courts office has developed a system by which individuals can go online for information that can save them a trip to the Courthouse. The presentation to the CJIN Board includes that offenses that can be taken care of online via documentation that can be sent in electronically. To see the entire presentation, please click here.

The Administrative Office of the Courts CIO, Jeff Marecic gave a presenation to the CJIN Board on the Vision for the AOC. This included priorities for the Department as well as strategies moving forward. That presentation can be viewed here.

The North Carolina DNA Database (§ 15A-266.3A) requires defendants arrested for certain felony offenses to provide DNA samples at arrest rather than waiting for conviction. These samples are collected by local Law Enforcement while fingerprinting defendants at arrest. These samples are forwarded to the SBI to be analyzed and added to the DNA Database. They are then to be used to identify guilty parties as well as exonerate the innocent. If the defendant is later found not guilty, or pleads guilty to a misdemeanor not covered by this statute then the SBI is directed to destroy the sample. (Unless other grounds exist to allow them to keep the sample: i.e. the defendant’s DNA was taken pursuant to a previous felony conviction); 15A-266(3A) requires that in cases where the defendant has been found not guilty, case dismissed or never charged the Defendant shall have his DNA sample expunged from the DNA Database. The statute directs that that the local District Attorney notify the SBI when the DNA should be expunged from the Database.  

At the March 29, 2012 CJIN Board meeting a resolution was unanimously passed, recommending an alternative process for handling expunction, please click here for more information about DNA expunction.

Discovery Automation Process for District Attorneys was highlighted along with the benefits to the users, as well as some of the features that the system offers. There were numerous screen shots of the system in action to allow for a more detailed understanding of the look and feel of the system. A timeline was provided for the various releases of the system and a chart of the constituents that are served by the system. To see the DAS Fact Sheet click here.

The NCAWARE system provides an automated, web-based statewide warrant repository to maintain and track criminal processes and offender information.  NCAWARE electronically interfacing to the Local Law Enforcement RMS, a nightly download is now available to all law enforcement that will download into their specific Record Management System; AOC has also deployed a Magistrate Video Project that you can read more about and view the presentation here. For more information on NCAWARE please visit http://www.nccourts.org/news/NCAWAREfacts.asp.

The Administrative Office of the Courts is working with the CJIN Board to try and determine the most efficient way to automate the Clerk of Court Process that includes:

The Clerks of Superior Court act as the hub of court system including serving a judge of probate.  The following list of responsibilities and accountabilities was provided by one of our CJIN Board members, the Honorable Mike McArthur, the list was developed by the Honorable Rachel Joyner, Nash County Clerk of Superior Court: Accounting Department, Domestic Violence, Enforcement of Child Support Orders, Child Support Court, Superior Civil, District Civil, Small Claims – District, Superior Criminal, District Criminal, Issues all Court Process, Magistrates, Jury Pool System, Arbitrates disputes between Board of Education and Board of County Commissioners, Nominates for appointment to Resident Superior Court Judge, Magistrates, Public Administrator, $3 million invested of minors’ funds, Collected over $11 million – 1995, Special proceedings and CSC hearings, Land Sales – Land Division, Sets Attorney Fees, Change of Name Proceedings, Appoints administrators, executors, coordinators, receivers, Appoints court commissioners and jury commissioners, Settlement of boundary line and Cartway Disputes, Foreclosures, attachments, claims, and delivery hearings, Adoption Hearings, Petitions to Open Adoptions, Special Proceedings Confidential (involuntary commitment), Estates of deceased persons, minors, and incompetents, Audits accounts of fiduciaries, Administers estates less than $5,000, and Removal of fiduciaries – contempt power.

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Pre-Trial Release

John Guard of the Pitt County Sheriff's Office gave the CJIN Board several presentations regarding Pre-Trial Release. He was joined by members of the Clerk of Superior Court from Wake, Chowan, and Iredell Counties. There were representatives from the City of High Point and Statesville along with the Board discussed how to ensure that agencies are aware of and how Judges can ensure that pre-trial release is working.

To read more information about Pre-Trial Release and to see presentations by Detective John Guard and Sgt. Dan Miglin along with a Memo from AOC regarding Pre-Trial Release, please click here.

Body Worn Camera and Video

Body Worn Cameras are of extreme interest for Law Enforcement Agencies, Officers and the public.  The CJIN Board has been exploring this topic for some time and have gathered a variety of information from various sources that will shed some light on the status of Body Worn Camera; NC Agencies (pilots, implementation, policies, etc.), Statutes and Ordinances (NC & Agencies across the Country), Presentations and Workshops (Numerous Agencies), etc.

With so much attention being focused on specific instances across the United States, it begs the question of what the Body Worn Camera Policy is for difference Agencies across the US.  If you are a Law Enforcement Agency that might be trying to develop their own policy for body worn cameras, this site will offer you a wide variety of policies for agencies of all sizes across the United States. 

Through the workshops and presentations given by various members and advisory members of the CJIN Board, several members of the Justice and Public Safety Subcommittee for the North Carolina General Assembly were present at this meetings and workshops.  Those NC Representatives then realized the concerns were far reaching and then appointed an Ad Hoc Committee within the Justice and Public Safety Subcommittee to study the issue of Body Worn Camera and thanked the CJIN Board for bringing this to their attention and for facilitating workshops and presentations to address the Law Enforcement Communities’ concerns. Out of these workshops the Justice and Public Safety Subcommittee drafted a bill for Body Worn Video for the State of NC, that Bill on July 11, 2016 was signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. To view the Law, please click here.

One of the primary concerns that has been determined though the various workshops and presentations given to the CJIN Board by Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department by Crystal Cody and Major Steve Willis, Lt. Justin Flint from the Greensboro Police Department, Captain Jeff Young from Hickory Police Department, Deputy Chief Mitch Cunningham from the Wilmington Police Department, Deputy Chief Anthony Marsh of the Durham Police Department, Deputy Chris Creech, IT Director at Wake County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. John Maultsby from the Raleigh Police Department, Lt. Ryan Hepler with the Rocky Mount Police Department, Kim Thomas, Criminal Investigator with the Fayetteville Police Department, Cameron Garner, Evidence Technician and Captain Jennifer Brame with the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office and others have assisted the CJIN Board by sharing their experiences and concerns surrounding Body Worn Cameras.  Out of those meetings and workshops one of the concerns is that of video management of the body worn camera footage; tagging of videos, record retention, cost of storage, etc.   This concern will be explored in greater depth by the CJIN Board, but the first step was to explore the policies that different departments have in place.

All of the aforementioned presentations, polices, statutes, ordinances, workshops, etc. can be viewed by clicking here.

CJLEADS

CJLEADS 2 is Actively Being Deployed!

CJLEADS has undergone a series of updates and changes to the application that will enhance its value to users.  These enhancements – called CJLEADS 2 – which are actively being deployed, will consolidate tools, minimize workflow and offer a more modern user experience.
Based on user feedback, GDAC worked to transition to an environment that will comply with the most current security recommendations and protocols. Also, CJLEADS 2 will provide a more intuitive web interface that has a responsive design whereby the user will see the same interface regardless of the user’s device.  It is important to note that use of the CJLEADS 2 environment will no longer require Adobe Flash Player.
Although user will still have full access to the CJLEADS 1 environment until Spring, 2018, we are asking each agency to begin their transition as soon as possible so that we can ensure all 25,000 active users of CJLEADS have successfully on-boarded to the new version before the old version is shut down on May 1st.  All agencies should complete their transition to CJLEADS 2 as quickly as possible.  Rollout of CJLEADS 2 has been divided into phases. GDAC plans to complete this incremental rollout before the end of January 2018.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is required for the new CJLEADS version.  Since we are requiring MFA, we are providing this second-factor of identity management at no cost to the agency, just as the CJLEADS application has been available for use at no cost to the agency. The CJLEADS administrators in each agency are to be designated as MFA Delegated Administrators (DA) for their agency.  We will work very closely with you as a CJLEADS admin to ensure you have the necessary documentation you need to properly equip your users on MFA. 

CJLEADS Administrators should ensure their users will have uninterrupted access to CJLEADS by moving forward, and notifying their users of the procedures for onboarding to MFA and CJLEADS 2. We know that CJLEADS is a valuable tool and we will continue strive to keep the tool relevant and expand capabilities.  Please contact us at cjleadshelp@nc.gov or call 919-754-6950 for information or visit our webpage.

NCAWARE

The NCAWARE system provides an automated, web-based statewide warrant repository to maintain and track criminal processes and offender information.  NCAWARE electronically interfacing to the Local Law Enforcement RMS, a nightly download is now available to all law enforcement that will download into their specific Record Management System; AOC has also deployed a Magistrate Video Project that you can read more about and view the presentation here. For more information on NCAWARE please visit http://www.nccourts.org/news/NCAWAREfacts.asp.

Jail Administration - Pitt County Detention Center

The CJIN Staff requested that the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office share with the Board how the use of GuardTracker has automated the Pitt County Detention Center; Major Lawrence Whaley and Sgt. Clinton Williams gave a presentation on the solution that they created for the Detention Center. GuardTracker, which was a solution that Sgt. Clinton Williams developed as they were using a white board and post-it notes, now they have a fully integrated technological solution.  The program has the potential to save jails throughout North Carolina tens of millions of dollars in savings; however, more important are the public safety features of the program that apply to both the guards and the inmates.

Click here for more information on Jail Administration

Click here for more information on GuardTracker Software

Clerk of the Court Automation

The Administrative Office of the Courts is working with the CJIN Board to try and determine the most efficient way to automate the Clerk of Court Process that includes:

The Clerks of Superior Court act as the hub of court system including serving a judge of probate.  The following list of responsibilities and accountabilities was provided by one of our CJIN Board members, the Honorable Mike McArthur, the list was developed by the Honorable Rachel Joyner, Nash County Clerk of Superior Court: Accounting Department, Domestic Violence, Enforcement of Child Support Orders, Child Support Court, Superior Civil, District Civil, Small Claims – District, Superior Criminal, District Criminal, Issues all Court Process, Magistrates, Jury Pool System, Arbitrates disputes between Board of Education and Board of County Commissioners, Nominates for appointment to Resident Superior Court Judge, Magistrates, Public Administrator, $3 million invested of minors’ funds, Collected over $11 million – 1995, Special proceedings and CSC hearings, Land Sales – Land Division, Sets Attorney Fees, Change of Name Proceedings, Appoints administrators, executors, coordinators, receivers, Appoints court commissioners and jury commissioners, Settlement of boundary line and Cartway Disputes, Foreclosures, attachments, claims, and delivery hearings, Adoption Hearings, Petitions to Open Adoptions, Special Proceedings Confidential (involuntary commitment), Estates of deceased persons, minors, and incompetents, Audits accounts of fiduciaries, Administers estates less than $5,000, and Removal of fiduciaries – contempt power.

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