Clark County is using a new 21st-century computer system called “Odyssey” to keep court records.  Odyssey connects Clark County to a continually growing network of courts, clerks, law enforcement and other state agencies and makes court information available over the Internet at no charge.  Courts in neighboring Floyd, Harrison, and Washington Counties also use Odyssey and the courts in Jackson, Jennings, and Scott Counties anticipate using Odyssey soon.

Clark County’s upgrade to Odyssey is part of the Indiana Supreme Court’s effort to equip every trial court in the state with a 21st-century case management system.  There are currently 59 courts in 21 counties in the state using Odyssey and these courts account for more than 25% of the cases filed in all Indiana courts last year.

The estimated 40,000 new cases filed in the Clark County trial courts each year will now be managed by Odyssey.  Superior Court Judge Vicki Carmichael said, “The JTAC staff worked hand-in-hand with the court and clerk staff to make the transition to Odyssey smooth and seamless. Odyssey is a tremendous asset to Clark County as attorneys, litigants, and the general public can now access case information online without having to call or come into the courthouse. We are extremely pleased with the transition and with the Odyssey product."  Clerk Barbara Bratcher Haas is equally pleased and explained, “Our previous system included public access by way of the Internet but there was a cost to the county to provide this service.    Odyssey allows for free public access over the Internet, which means a person can look up their hearing date on line without having to make a call to my office or come to the courthouse and at no additional cost to the county. The implementation of Odyssey created more consistency throughout the court system which allows for more efficient use of resources.”

Odyssey was first installed in ten Indiana courts on a pilot basis in December 2007 under the direction of the Supreme Court’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) which is a part of the Division of State Court Administration. Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., who chairs JTAC, congratulated the Clark County court staff.  Justice Sullivan said, “Installing Odyssey successfully is a major accomplishment and the people of Clark County should be proud of the hard work done by Judges Carmichael, Jacobi, Moore, and Weber as well as Clerk Haas and the people who work in their offices to make it happen.  Having this advanced technology will mean better service for the citizens of these counties who need to access their clerks’ offices and the courts.  It will increase public safety because of its connections to law-enforcement and the BMV.  And because JTAC pays for the computer software, including its ongoing maintenance, support, and upgrade, using Odyssey represents a savings for the taxpayers of Clark County as well.”

Courts pay no installation costs, training costs, license fees, or annual maintenance costs for Odyssey.  Those costs are paid by JTAC from the proceeds of a court filing fee dedicated to the project by the General Assembly.  Odyssey is designed to be implemented statewide and is being installed without disrupting everyday court business or closing Indiana courts.  Currently, there are 23 different and unrelated court record management systems statewide and these systems do not communicate with each other.

• More than 25% of all the new cases filed in Indiana are in Odyssey.
• The busiest court in the state, Marion County “traffic court,” uses Odyssey.
• More than 410,000 traffic cases have been sent electronically to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles through Odyssey.
• 5 counties used typewriters and/or scroll books to manage court records before Odyssey.
• Indiana invested $7.7 million in the statewide licensing for Odyssey.
• Information on cases in Odyssey is available to Internet users at courts.in.gov at no cost.

Odyssey is just one of the Indiana Supreme Court’s technology improvement initiatives.  JTAC is providing Indiana courts and clerks statewide with additional computer resources to assist them in their work to better serve the public. 

• JTAC has installed computer software that sends notification of the resolution of traffic cases to the BMV electronically in every Indiana court with traffic infraction jurisdiction.
• State troopers, deputies and police officers in 160 law-enforcement agencies in Indiana use scanners to issue traffic citations and warnings using computer software written by JTAC.
• All 92 Indiana counties have access to a statewide master jury list created by JTAC.
• When judges in all 92 counties issue domestic violence protection orders, software written by JTAC is used to notify local law enforcement, Indiana State Police and the FBI.
• Sixty-four Indiana counties and the Department of Health use JTAC technology to eliminate the manual entry of marriage licenses.
• Forty-two Indiana counties and the Department of Revenue use JTAC technology to eliminate the manual entry of tax warrants.
• To implement property tax reforms enacted in 2008, juvenile probation officers and the Department of Child Services use JTAC technology to exchange information on children in juvenile delinquency cases for whom DCS will be financing services.
• JTAC has developed technology for trial courts to notify federal authorities electronically about individuals who should not possess a firearm because of mental health problems.

The Indiana Supreme Court received three prestigious national technology and safety awards during 2009: The Best Practices Award from the Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals; the Governors Highway Safety Association Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Award; and a National Center for State Courts G. Thomas Munsterman Award for Jury Innovations.  The Court received these awards in large part because of its close working relationship on technology projects with agencies in the Daniels Administration, including, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, the Indiana Office of Technology, the Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Indiana Department of Revenue, and the Indiana State Police. 

For more information on the Indiana Supreme Court’s technology projects visit courts.in.gov/jtac.