April / May 2019

April/May 2019

Vol. 17 No. 2

Digital Signage & Wayfindiing Four Steps to Compliant Collections

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Courts Today 69 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH 03755

with alternative & diversion programs

Publisher & Executive Editor Thomas S. Kapinos Assistant Publisher Jennifer Kapinos Editor Donna Rogers Contributing Editors Michael Grohs, Bill Schiffner G.F. Guercio, Kelly Mason Art Director Jamie Stroud Marketing Representatives Bonnie Dodson (828) 479-7472 Art Sylvie (480) 816-3448 Peggy Virgadamo (718) 456-7329

A P R I L / M AY 2 019 V O L U M E 17 N U M B E R 2

with alternative & diversion programs

F EATU R E S

is published bi-monthly by: Criminal Justice Media, Inc PO Box 213 Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 310.374.2700

4 New York State’s Opioid Intervention Court

14 The Evolution of A/V in the Courtroom

20 Digital Communications: Signage & Wayfinding

26 Four Steps to Compliant, Effective Court Collections

DE PARTM E NTS

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BY HO N. J A N ET D I FI O R E

Opioid addiction has reached crisis levels.

The Intervention Court in Buffalo, N.Y., serves as a model other state courts can follow to fight the epidemic.

ON JULY 31, 2017, the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis issued a preliminary report describing the severity of the opioid-addiction crisis gripping communities across America.

Suggesting a national crisis, it included these points:

• Approximately 142 Americans are dying every day from opioid abuse, a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks.

• Drug overdoses now kill more people every year than gun

homicides and car crashes combined.

• The number of drug overdoses in the United States has quadrupled since 1999.

• In 2015 nearly two-thirds of all drug overdoses were caused by opioids, especially heroin, fentanyl, Percocet, and OxyContin.

In fact a report from the Police Executive Research Forum notes that more Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016 (64,070) than lost their lives during the entirety of the Vietnam War (58,200).

New York’s Response: A First-of-Its-Kind Court The Opioid Intervention Court—the first of its kind in the nation—began operating on May 1, 2017, in Buffalo, Erie County, an area hard hit by opioid addiction and overdose deaths. The new court is unique in that it relies on immediate intervention and treatment of individuals at high risk of opioid overdose. Within 24 hours of arrest, defendants are linked to

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medication-assisted treatment, followed by up to 90 days of intensive daily court monitoring. In the Opioid Intervention Court, treatment is prioritized and criminal prosecution held in abeyance— thus flipping the usual legal process in order to save lives.

According to statistics provided by the Erie County Department of Health, opioid-overdose deaths jumped from 127 in 2014 to 296 in 2016. In a single week in 2016, three defendants in the Buffalo City Court died from opioid overdoses, driving home the need for a different approach when dealing with defendants suffering from opioid-use disorders. Judges and court staff in Buffalo and Erie County took the lead in reaching out to local stakeholders to develop a new court model to address the unique needs of opioid-addicted defendants.

The Buffalo City Court was well positioned to take the lead on this issue because of its sophisticated and successful judicial-diversion and drug-treatment programs, and the extensive community partnerships developed under the COURTS program (Court Outreach Unit: Referral and Treatment Services). Started in 1994 by City Court Chief Judge Thomas Amodeo, COURTS integrates social-service professionals into the arrest-and-arraignment process so that judges can make informed decisions, linking defendants to the best available treatment options based on expert screening and referral recommendations.

With the support of the court system’s grants and contracts office, the Buffalo proposal was submitted to the Department of

Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, which awarded a $300,000 grant for piloting a specialized opioid court for defendants at high risk of opioid overdose.

The Opioid Court Process Participation in the Opioid Intervention Court begins shortly after arrest and before arraignment. Each morning, trained court staff goes through the city court’s holding facility to personally interview all persons awaiting arraignment. A brief six-question protocol is used to identify those persons who are at risk of an opioid overdose. Persons deemed at risk are flagged and have their court files marked for appearance at a special morning arraignment calendar before Craig Hannah, the presiding judge of the Opioid Intervention Court. All persons appearing in the opioid court are represented by counsel.

At arraignment, persons charged with nonviolent crimes who consent to participate in the opioid court are released to the supervision of a treatment provider for up to 90 days of medication-assistance treatment. The Erie County district attorney, John J. Flynn, has agreed to suspend prosecution of participants for the period they are undergoing treatment.

Immediately following arraignment, each participant receives a complete psychosocial assessment by an on-site team of treatment professionals and case coordinators.

An individualized treatment plan is developed by community health experts for each participant based

on the severity and circumstances of his or her addiction. Because so many opioid users experience severe addiction withdrawal symptoms, they are immediately linked to medication-assisted treatment.

Individuals who are sufficiently stable participate in a 90-day outpatient treatment regimen.

With few exceptions, the entire process of screening, arraignment, assessment, and placement in treatment occurs within 48 hours of arrest and is carried out by trained personnel who personally transport each participant from the jail or courthouse to the treatment facility.

(For those defendants not consenting, the case proceeds under the normal case-processing path.)

Phase One of the Program Participants released to the community for outpatient treatment following arraignment, or who return to the community after completion of inpatient treatment, must report, Monday through Friday, to Presiding Judge Craig Hannah for six weeks.

This initial 12-week, 90-day period of stabilization and intensive monitoring is phase one of the opioid-court treatment program.

Phase one is critical because experience has shown that opioid users are most vulnerable to fatal overdoses when they first return to using opioids after having been “clean” for a period of time.

While drug testing generally takes place randomly in a standard drug court, participants in the Opioid Intervention Court undergo daily testing. Community-service providers and court staff are present in the courtroom every April/May 2019x

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day to closely monitor participants. Opioid court staff also checks in with participants on weekends by phone and sometimes in person.

Finally, the district attorney’s office and defense counsel use the phase-one treatment period to investigate the case and negotiate an appropriate plea agreement.

Even if participants do not move on to phase two because a plea agreement is not reached, or plead guilty and are sentenced to jail, they have at least been linked to appropriate treatment to help get them through the difficult withdrawal phase and to overcome their opioid addiction.

Arrest warrants have been issued for participants who failed to make their court appearances during phase one, but the Buffalo Police Department and Erie County Sheriff’s Office have agreed to prioritize execution of these warrants and return participants to court as quickly as possible to avoid the high risk that they will relapse and die of an overdose.

Phase Two Following completion of phase one, and as part of a plea agreement, many participants move on to phase two and continued monitoring in Buffalo’s drug-treatment or mental-health courts before Judge Robert T. Russell, a pioneering drug-court judge who also presides over the nation’s first veterans treatment court. While some participants experience an adjustment period as they move away from intensive daily supervision and begin establishing a new weekly relationship with Judge

Russell, the transition to phase two has gone smoothly.

Evaluating the Court While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about this innovative court, one vital outcome is already apparent. It is preventing the tragic overdoses that were occurring during the period between arrest and placement in treatment. The court has experienced just a single overdose death among its 204 participants since May 1, 2017, thus achieving the goal of saving lives. As Judge Hannah put it: “That is our purpose. If saving lives means we put their criminal case on hold for 30, 60, or 90 days, we have our partners in government who agreed to do it and we’re going to do it,” he said on WKBW news.

The court’s goal, initially, was to successfully treat at least 200 people a year and provide a model for potential replication in other jurisdictions. The court is currently handling between 45 to 60 potential active participants at any given time and is well on its way to doubling the original goal of 200 participants a year.

Learning from the Buffalo Experience The Buffalo Opioid Intervention Court holds great promise for how the key players in the criminal justice system can join to forge more effective responses to the opioid epidemic plaguing our communities. Given the devastatingly addictive quality of opioids and the profile of their users, there is a high risk that these individuals will die without the kind of immediate intervention, linkage to treat-

ment, and intense supervision provided by the opioid court.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance grant supports an evaluation of outcomes relating to reductions in recidivism and drug use, as well as a process evaluation to examine how the program can be sustained over time. One thing is clear. The Buffalo Opioid Intervention Court reflects a resource-intensive approach that may be hard for some jurisdictions to replicate given the many behavioral-health and court personnel required to manage and execute the multiple aspects of the program. The early success of the Opioid Intervention Court is built on a strong infrastructure of community partnerships developed over many years by committed jurists like Buffalo Chief Judge Thomas Amodeo and Associate Judge Robert Russell. Replication efforts must consider the need for significant local planning and coordination with multiple stakeholders, as well as the available resources and prevailing conditions in each community.

The New York State court system is taking the lessons learned from the Buffalo experience and applying it to other communities struggling with the opioid epidemic. For example, in Bronx County, 261 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016, and the final numbers are likely to be higher in 2017. District Attorney Darcel Clark, Bronx County Criminal Court Supervising Judge George Grasso, Bronx Community Solutions, the defense bar, and other providers have adopted the Bronx version of an opioid treatment court—a specialized case track called OAR

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(the Overdose Avoidance and Recovery Track)—for misdemeanor offenders at high risk for opioid overdose.

The protocol adopted in Bronx County provides strong incentives for treatment. The district attorney has agreed, where no new arrests occur while the case is pending and upon completion of treatment, that a case will be dismissed and the defendant’s record sealed.

Plans are underway to expand the OAR approach to the rest of New York City as soon as possible.

In addition to these court responses, New York State Court Officers have now received training to administer Narcan, the critical antidote drug that instantaneously reverses an opioid over-

dose. This training investment has already paid off. In just a few months, court officers have saved the lives of four people overdosing on opioids in and around our courthouses.

Conclusion For court leaders and policymakers in New York and around the country, the Opioid Intervention Court can serve as a useful model to help understand how the courts and the criminal justice system can respond effectively to the societal scourge of opioid abuse. It is also an example of how state court systems can advance the national conversation on critical justice issues by being

proactive in devising better ways to meet the challenges presented by difficult and complex trends like opioid addiction. (In 2017 Naloxone kits were supplied to the courts by the State Department of Health and are available in every courthouse in the state.)

The Buffalo Opioid Intervention Court is being watched closely by policymakers and court managers.

We are optimistic that the lessons learned will have a positive impact on our justice system and the wellbeing of our communities in New York and all around the country. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Trends in April/May 2019x

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BY MI C H A E L G R O H S , CO N T R I B U T I N G E D IT O R

The Evolution Revolution Digital evidence, virtual reality, 3D halograms...

While the technological race continues, there’s no telling the precise path it will take. or years, courtrooms have had an atmosphere that suggested a sense of archaic timelessness. While law-enforcement technology seems to garner attention, courts have often considered technological advances with a sense of trepidation, and probably for good reason. Even on TV shows, law enforcement has access to technology that won’t exist for years, and courts rely on white boards and sketch notebooks on easels. Now, of course, courts use a great deal of technology, but it often passes through that gauntlet of trepidation. Evolution is a process that works at its own pace.

Fredric Lederer, director of the Center for Legal and Court Technology (CLCT), part of William and Mary Law School and the National Center for State Courts that is regarded as the world’s most technologically advanced courtroom in the world, points out some of the myriad examples. Court Management

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Systems are ubiquitous. Evidence presentation is certainly being used, but to a lesser extent.

Lawyers, says Lederer, continue to have somewhat of a continued discomfort with the matter. There are numerous ways to present evidence both in practice and in development. It’s even possible to present evidence in a 3D hologram (though it may not as yet actually been done in an actual trial). At one point, CLCT showed the first 3D evidence: a brick and a baseball bat. The brick, says Lederer, was imposing in 3D. The jagged edges appeared more jagged than they actually were, so they had to question if it looked more dangerous than it really was. (According to Federal Rule of Evidence 403, the court may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice.)

Some technologies such as cell phones, police body cams, and other such devices have become much more prevalent in court.

There has also been an increased

number of still photos and video.

Not only does this material need to be included in the trial but in the court record as well. This can be difficult. Furthermore, many people who are not represented by counsel have evidence on cell phones, but many courts prevent cell phone use, so the questions arise about how the judge will view it and who else has the right to see it. Overall, there is a lack of uniformity. For the most part, there are no statewide standardized solutions, which courts would like to have rather than depending on what has become the method known as bring-your-own-device.

The Court Record has been a matter of serious concern given its importance and cost (to say nothing of what appears to be shortfalls in the number of graduating stenographic court reporting students).

Courts have increasingly been using voice writers and, especially, electronic recording. The difficulty with digital audio/video records has been the need to transcribe the recording as most appellate courts

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A new pivot feature allows the Nomad LT Digital AV Platform to turn up to 270 degrees without cable conflict.

mandate transcripts (Kentucky being the principal exception).

There has even been experimental success with virtual reality capturing a court record. Some argue that in another 10 years the technology will be widespread, but currently the tactic, says Lederer, has not particularly captured people’s attention. Others are careful not to raise expectations about the evolving technology because of the pace courts can or will embrace it. There is also the concern of simplicity.

Experimental VR transcripts have been successful, but those involved might not be interested because there is not a transcript, and a transcript is simply easier to read.

In April 2019, CLCT tried

a simulated Navy court-martial designed to both experiment with a state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence-based (AI) speech-to-text court record system and to demonstrate other useful

courtroom technologies. The experimental trial was conducted

by CLCT in cooperation with the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Navy, FTR, Microsoft, and Revolutionary Text. The primary goal was to test an AI-based automatic speech-to-text court record system.

The results were surprisingly effective. FTR supplied Microsoft with a state-of-the-art digital audio recording of everything said in the courtroom, and Microsoft’s AI system converted the audio to text.

The court had a recess about 45 minutes into the proceeding. About 20 minutes later, they had a text transcript from Microsoft that even included punctuation. The result was “amazingly good.� It was not quite satisfactory without an edit, but the results suggest that the Holy Grail of court transcripts— true and accurate voice to text— might actually now be in sight.

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Interestingly, during the trial CLCT made two other court records as well. One was an outof-state remote real-time stenographic record made by Revolutionary Text. During an evidentiary objection argument, the trial judge advised counsel to wait a second while he checked the realtime transcript on the bench iPad to ascertain what had been actually said only a moment before. The other was a virtual reality court record, CLCT’s second. Although the FTR-created VR record allows a user with appropriate headgear to “appear� in the center of trial, able to see and hear everything that transpired, it lacks a transcript.

That suggests that at some point in the future, a court record system could combine an historically accurate virtual reality with an AI-generated text transcript.

We do, however, have alternate uses of technology in deciding cases. Notes Lederer, “We tend to focus on courts and forget that we have alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the form of mediation and arbitration as well as large numbers of administrative agency adjudications that use the same technology.�

Each year, Social Security conducts about 700,000 disability hearings.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has been one of the government agencies that has openly embraced electronic technology, including remote expert testimony.

The SSA website, for FY 2019, shows the total number of hearings.

Only one office (Rochester) reported having no video hearings. One (Norwalk) reported just one. For most others the number seems to hover between 30% and 60% or higher. In Chicago and St. Louis, it was all of them.

Immigration Cases Again, courts’ adoption of new technology is not always rapid and not necessarily based on availability or even users’ willingness as much as it relies on precedent.

Immigration proceedings traditionally took place in courtrooms; however, as dockets and costs have grown, the government has increasingly explored methods of reducing the expenses associated with such proceedings by conducting trials in which detained persons appear remotely in the courtroom.

The use of AV technology in immigration hearings began in 1996 when the Immigration and Nationality Act was amended to give judges discretion to conduct removal proceedings via video teleconferencing and has grown steadily ever since. In recent years, New York’s immigration courts have faced serious overcrowding.

In 2018, they adopted a high-tech solution in which immigrants have been kept in detention centers for their legal proceedings and appear before by videoconference, a highly controversial procedure. A 2019 lawsuit claims that such a policy infringes upon immigrants’ constitutional rights in an orchestrated attempt to speed up and increase deportations. The lawsuit asserts that detained immigrants are not able to fully communicate with their lawyers and participate in proceedings if their only interaction with the court is conducted remotely. As a result, the suit says, immigrants who might otherwise be allowed to stay could be deported.

The use of AV in courts is not new and often includes remote witnesses and expert testimony.

The important distinction, Lederer points out, is that in the case of immigration courts, it is the

who is remote.

When the decision is made to incorporate AV technology, courts have myriad options. Brad White of Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based Nomad Technologies notes that the two reasons they hear about courts adopting systems are efficiency and judicial results. If the judge and jury can clearly see and hear what is being said, the result will be more accurate. The two things courts look for are reliability and ease of use, which White points out, directly relate to the reasons for adopting it.

In the world of AV systems, says White, there are three paths to implementation: DIY, designbuild, and consult to build. The do-it-yourself method, he says, is somewhat rare. The design-build method refers to vendors coming out and discussing with the court what is needed or desired. The consult-to-build is more typical for new buildings and courtrooms.

Nomad’s approach is unique. The problem with the other methods, he furthers, is that the systems are installed before the court knows if it works as anticipated. He compares it to buying a car sight unseen. A court might ask for a blue version of a certain make and model stocked with these and those options, but when the car is delivered it is powder blue rather than navy blue and the options are maybe what they asked for but not what they needed or wanted.

There is also the consideration of compatibility. “Whenever you put two electronic sources together, there might be unintended consequences.�

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Nomad LT is the company’s flagship design of lectern-style furniture that was designed to address a technological shift in the industry. When an AV system is installed, the options are innumerable and in many cases the sky is the limit. Witnesses can annotate remotely. A judge can have a monitor and be a third party. Users can control the flow of evidence at the touch of a button. Some courts suppress everything until they publish. Others can manage it on a one-by-one basis, so photos from an autopsy, for example, can be published to the witness first, then to the prosecutor, then to the gallery.

When Nomad began, there was one option. Then, says White, someone asked, “Can we do this?” He adds, “And those three interesting words came out…

‘It should work.’” The term they use is not qualified.

For example, one court asked if they could veer off track from the norm and instead use HDTV. Nomad tried it, and it worked, thus becoming qualified.

Another consideration that may cause court stakeholders trepidation to adopt technology is training. For one, when adopting a system, the court

can only send a few future users to test the system and make a decision. Not all who will use it can go to a remote site, but Nomad systems come to the court, so all who use it will have the ability to interact with the system before purchasing. White says at one time he read the user’s manual for his Ford F150 pickup. He counted the times it mentioned the phrase “if equipped” even though the sticker in the window clearly stated exactly what the truck was equipped with. He took note of that in creating Nomad literature. There are also scores of training solution video links and further sub-links. (Every serial number has its own link.) Training for all stakeholders is a click away.

Since efficiency is one of the two reasons courts adopt new technology, they should consider the scope of what that entails. Size matters. When a company makes generic furniture used in courts, they will build it to ensure that it will work for all products, which means designing it for the largest products on the market. White notes that the design should be highly interactive and should be ergonomically designed. The keyboard must be on an ergonomically designed plane. A DVD player, which is used much less frequently, does not. “Saying yes to everybody makes it bigger and less ergonomic.”

The Technological Race Technology use in courts will continue, but it’s unlikely to be able to predict the pace it will move.

Technology for dispute resolution continues to expand, says Lederer, and CLCT is helping to design a state-ofthe-art International Arbitration Center on Grand Cayman. It will provide state-of-the-art technology including the ability for remote parties and witnesses to appear and participate.

Ever since the Industrial Revolution, there has been concern about automation and technology replacing the human factor. In recent years, though, the potential seems to be closer than it was before. The race for autonomous cars is on. Books titled “The End of Work” and “A World Without Work” line the shelves. AI is getting more and more intelligent. The trepidation regarding new technology, especially in such critical arenas as courtrooms, is understandable. One thing Lederer stresses, though, is that at least for serious cases, CLCT believes that the physical courtroom is the key to both justice and the appearance of justice.

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BY DONNA ROG ERS , E D IT O R

Here are some clear choices in graphics for your courthouse from indoor to outdoor, tabletop to wall mounted.

here’s nothing worse than arriving at a new facility with little time to spare in finding your hearing room only to be mystified as to where the meeting is being held and being delayed as you wander the corridors in a sweat. This delays court proceedings and can contribute to case backlogs, which you as a manager must try to eliminate.

This type of delay, however, is needless with the signage available today that can easily direct visitors—from wayfinding maps to jury seating diagrams. The latest digital signage and kiosk systems offer the power of the computer to engage the public, integrate with backend court systems and ease court manager’s daily grind.

FASTSIGNS International, Inc. is the franchisor of FASTSIGNS®; Fastsigns centers provide custom sign and graphics products. There are currently over 700 locations worldwide in the United States,

A convivial welcome sign by FASTSIGNS International.

Canada, the U.K., the Cayman Islands, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Chile and Australia (where they are called SIGNWAVE®). The company states that it provides “visual communications solutions that help people solve challenges, including signs that help eliminate confusion and get people where they are going.”

“We sell a wide array of custom signs and graphics with the recommended solutions being based on learning more about the challenges a buyer is having,” says Drue

Townsend, senior vice president of Marketing.

Having signage and maps can increase productivity and keep the courthouse running more proficiently and economically.

Research shows that businesses lose 20 to 30 percent of their revenue a year because of inefficiencies, according to the International Data Corporation. How can companies overcome this and create a more productive, well-organized environment for their employees?

A good place to start is by ensuring that you have effective workplace communication, notes Townsend, and one way to do that is by having digital signs with content to keep employees and visitors informed, and operations running smoothly. Digital signage can include tabletop displays, kiosks, single wall units, multiwall units that form video walls, etc. The content created to run on them can provide information, wayfinding, entertainment, etc., as well as have sound, motion and in

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some models, be interactive (if a touchscreen model is used).

For digital signage to be effective and improve communication and operation, she says, it’s crucial to determine the messaging goals and decide who will be responsible for creating and managing the digital content, and whether that person is in the organization or with an outside provider (such as an ad agency or a Fastsigns center). To keep viewers engaged, messages need to be updated regularly, easy to read and understand, and visually appealing.

You can place digital displays or stand-alone kiosks in common areas and employee break rooms to communicate timely messages such as safety updates, company news, employee recognition, upcoming events, or motivational messages. Regularly updating the content and sharing timely news helps employees and/or the citizens you serve feel engaged and stay on top of what is going on with the court.

Implementing a digital wayfinding and directory system can help people quickly and efficiently find their way around. The digital signs can be easily updated when courtrooms or meeting rooms are changed or relocated.

There are also digital sign solutions to identify if a room is in use or vacant.

The use of interactive displays offers a variety of benefits including helping court staff keep on top of proceedings and locations, and allows visitors to check in and then speeds them to their destination.

Townsend points out, "Good signage helps make operations smoother because it minimizes stress for visitors, saves your staff

time by not having to direct traffic (reduces the "where is..."), helps people get to court on time, etc."

She adds that some of the pertinent content that Fastsigns could create that a court might want to run includes: • Services available in the courthouse, how to reach civic leaders, historical information about the building, career info, public service announcements, i.e., reminding visitors to register to vote, schedules of events, dockets, etc.

• Wayfinding: directions to common areas (restrooms, courtroom, elevators, foodservice) • Entertainment: "how to" screens that explain the process of serving as a juror or reasons why you should renew your vehicle registration on time (communicated in a factual but humorous manner), or perhaps some paid ads from nearby businesses (if legal), or even pictures of couples who married in the courthouse.

Having an effective digital sign program in place gives employees another great way to stay informed and productive in the workplace, and ideally, help the court improve their service to the public.

Queue Management Check-in can be a breeze with queue management and integrated scheduling. ACF kiosks and mobile receptionists expedite check-ins, reduce wait times and create an organized, relaxed environment, says Mike Pelz, vice president of Business Development, ACF Technologies, Inc. “Our virtual queuing solutions empower cus-

tomers and citizens to schedule appointments online, check in remotely, and receive communications and alerts on their mobile devices. Virtual tickets allow customers to ‘get in line’ as if they were already in the building.”

ACF’s fully integrated scheduling “bolsters the agency’s ability to get the right people, to the right place at the right time. And this extends to informing customers of wait times on a website,” he adds.

Further, ACF wayfinding kiosks help people navigate complex spaces. When a visitor clicks on a specific location on a kiosk map, they receive straightforward, clear directions to locations across a building or campus. Visitors can request directions in a digital or printed format and follow step-bystep prompts to the appropriate room.

“It’s been said that numerous government institutions have found benefits in leveraging the power of digital signage and kiosks to communicate—both internally and externally,” Pelz points out. While poor communication causes confusion and frustration for visitors, digital signage delivers targeted information to citizens in public buildings. This means that by the time a customer gets to the front of the queue they should, in theory, know exactly what they need when they arrive at a service desk. “The benefit?

Customers know what’s required from them, are served faster and don’t feel frustrated,” Pelz says.

Finally, digital signage, if used properly, can be just the right tool to turn poor customer experience into a pleasant one, whether at a retail store or a government office, Pelz notes.

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Digital Communication System The uses for digital communications within government institutions are numerous and the advantages are significant, says Chris Devlin, president, Omnivex Corporation.

By replacing static signs with a network of screens and interactive kiosks, governments can streamline operations and reduce operating costs both now and in the future. Further, the application of digital communication network in government extend far beyond a network of digital signs and include other areas such as selfservice kiosks, interactive wayfinding stations, emergency notifications, and visitor communications, he says.

The Omnivex platforms allow organizations to easily collect, present, and share information in real time, on any screen. Omnivex has two platforms—Omnivex Moxie and Omnivex Ink, the company notes.

Omnivex Moxie is a versatile solution for managing digital signage networks. It enables courts to: • Schedule content to appear when and where you want it with an easy-to-use interface • Create eye-catching visuals and manage content from one location for your network of screens • Aggregate content from internal or external sources and automatically trigger screen updates from real-time events • Create your own custom playlists for content Omnivex Ink enables everyone in your organization to share content on any screen—no coding

required.

It enables your court to: • Choose from a variety of digital signage or mobile templates as a starting point to create your screen layouts • Easily add data by simply dragging and dropping elements onto your layout • Manage all of your assets for an easy-to-use gallery • Add elements, such as images, text zones, videos, and web pages by dragging and dropping them People today are more selfdirected than ever, continues Devlin. “Few are bothered by selfcheckout lanes in supermarkets or information kiosks in retail stores, and the trial and adoption of these is growing rapidly. While the growth in popularity and usage of self-serve kiosks is partly due to companies getting better at implementing the technology, it is also

due to the average person being more technologically savvy.”

Thus, digital communications on devices such as self-serve kiosks provide a number of business advantages. Among these are: the registration process can be automated or the system can integrate backend systems such as juror management to provide personalized real-time information.

Wake County, the second-most populous county in North Carolina which consists of 12 municipalities, including Raleigh, the state capital, uses Omnivex Moxie to provide real-time scheduling information and directional signage in its new Justice Center building. The solution powers 69 screens throughout the new courthouse building, and is paired with static signage. Moxie offered Wake the ability to easily manage complex court data and, in the same system, provide messages to both staff and visitors.

Visix developed an interactive digital signage solution for Gwinnett County Courts that enables them to show instructions, important video content and data-driven juror seating arrangements with just a few clicks on screen.

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Working with their partner, Technical Innovation, Wake County was able to set up a wayfinding solution that shows the location of court cases during morning and afternoon sessions, combined with relevant communications and local information.

Results of the install were positive in Wake County. One of the easiest ways to determine the success of the project was to see people walk up, look at monitors, find their courtroom and go there, with ease. The screens at entry scroll the courtroom number and person’s name; the screens at the courtroom show the cases in session, name of person, courtroom number, offense, and arresting officer. In addition to the court information, people are able to easily find the offices of other departments in the facility, such as the tax department. The ability to change information on the fly has also been huge advantage for Wake County as a result of constantly updating court information coming from the state. It also has been helpful within the building to change departmental content.

Comprehensive Visuals Visix’s comprehensive approach to visual communications—from concept to delivery—provides cloud, software-only and bundled solutions, as well as multi-tier service and support options. Each of its products works independently or can be integrated into scalable deployments from a single display to large networks.

Content is everything, says Trey Hicks, chief sales officer. It has to be well thought-out and well

TouchSource video walls include event schedules, news, weather and traffic updates.

designed to be effective. The goal is to connect with and engage your audience, so you want to tailor your messages to what the individual audience wants and needs.

And, because you can choose what to show, on which screens, when and for how long, you can target employee areas with their messages, and show different messaging on public-facing screens, he says.

“Engaged employees are more satisfied, more loyal and more productive,” he furthers. With the right content on screens for employees, you can to motivate teams, recognize milestones and achievements, reinforce your policies, display professional development opportunities, and keep everyone informed on progress towards goals and deadlines.

You can also use digital signs to increase public awareness of services, events, policies and opportunities. The goal is to put more information in the hands of the public to make them feel empowered and reduce stress, Hicks points out. Display wait times and deadlines in offices, and include wayfinding and info boards at

strategic locations in the building.

Information can be displayed in multiple languages as well, negating the need for a large, multi-lingual staff to be always on hand.

And, because your messaging is visual, it helps the hearingimpaired.

Digital communications can have huge advantages. By managing communications centrally, you can improve both workflows and efficiencies, Hicks stresses. Digital signs can replace email for internal communications, target specific audiences in specific locations, and increase the connection between the courts and the communities they serve.

Information is presented clearly in a timely fashion, notifying employees and the public of announcements, services, opportunities, deadlines, advisories and more—all using eye-catching visuals. You’ll also save paper and waste by replacing printed notices.

Everything from publishing dockets, to broadcasting safety alerts, to managing rooms and shared spaces can be done using a single software application. This can all be managed by a single per-

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son at their computer, or by people at different locations interacting with software over the web.

More specifically, Visix offers a robust suite of award-winning digital signage solutions, content designs, and interactive and e-paper room signs.

These include: the AxisTV Signage Suite, which gives you “a vast array of content sources, smart playlists, flexible scheduling and multi-user licenses to attract viewers, connect people and drive results. Our dynamic apps and widgets make creating compelling content fast and easy,” the company notes. Content Designs from our award-winning creative team help drive interest and engagement across your digital signage system, they add. MeetingMinder™ digital room signs show current room and event schedules from your own calendar app. We offer interactive and E Ink models, as either stand-alone systems or powered by our Signage Suite software. All of our room signs include easy power and mounting options right out of the box, they report.

When Gwinnett County Courts in Atlanta, Georgia, needed a way to show instructional content to their many potential jurors they turned to Visix to help design their new processes. Their challenge was to show groups of potential jurors the right information at the right time, while also showing exact seating arrangements unique to each group for one of four possible juror selection rooms.

The Professional Services Team at Visix developed an interactive digital signage solution for Gwinnett County Courts that enables them to show instructions, important video content and data-driven seating arrangements with just a few clicks on screen. A simple content menu enables the Courts to show any of their content on-demand. Visix pulls juror information from an existing jury management system using smart data widgets available in AxisTV Signage Suite. This enables the courts to show each unique group of jurors exactly how they’ll sit for juror selection with their juror number and name shown on screen. AxisTV Signage Suite widgets use customizable logic to determine what seating graphics and text to show on screen, as the widgets analyze information coming from the jury management system in near real-time.

The process is repeated for each jury, making the system an efficient way for Gwinnet County to instruct their ongoing juries throughout the busy court day.

Video Walls to Support Calls With more than 7,000 installations across North America, TouchSource offers a wide range of digital engagement solutions to improve the visitor/staff experience. Since 1985, the company has been creating digital directories and wayfinding systems that focus on simplicity. This means managers can update multiple directories/signage in seconds from one log-in. The company offers wall mounts, video walls in many sizes and configurations, freestanding kiosks for indoor or outdoor and elevator displays that have two-way video and emergency communication available.

A variety of content spans interactive touchscreen directories to non-touch static directories, and interactive wayfinding to news, weather and traffic updates.

TouchSource creates turnkey packages customized for each court’s needs. They handle software and hardware and can arrange for installation, if desired. The firm also provides software updates and a Coloradobased phone support team. Extended hardware warranties protect your investment for years to come.

Maximize Your Investment and Make the Most of Your Software with EverGuide Completing a new software implementation should mark the beginning of a supportive relationship that provides you with guidance and continuous improvements to help you achieve long-term success. Tyler Technologies is committed to providing this relationship through its EverGuide initiative.

EverGuide includes training and consulting after implementation to ensure you get the most from your investment. It stems from an evergreen philosophy that ensures clients benefit from continually enhanced technology for the life of their products, as well as lower cost of ownership. EverGuide also leverages a continuous improvement maturity model to help clients improve technology and refine business processes. Tyler helps clients analyze where their office falls on the maturity model continuum, with the goal of planning next steps now and into the future.

With Tyler and EverGuide, you’ll have a long-term partner committed to supporting your technology growth and helping your office succeed.

For more information on how Tyler and EverGuide can help you achieve your technology goals today, tomorrow and in the years to come, contact us:

1.800.431.5776

cjsales@tylertech.com www.tylertech.com April/May 2019x

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Four Steps to Achieve Compliant, Effective Court Collections THE

COSTS

of administering justice have skyrocketed over the past three decades.

Beginning in the 1980s with the Reagan Administration’s “War on Drugs,” Congress and state legislatures adopted “tough on crime” measures that were originally meant to deter criminal activity and recidivism. Arrests and conviction rates spiked dramatically.

Defendants, including nonviolent offenders, faced mandatory minimum sentencing that often resulted in lengthy jail and prison stints.

While proponents contend that this approach has successfully held criminals accountable for their actions, one undeniable consequence of zero-tolerance policies has been the explosion of the penal population. Indeed, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world (Alexander 2010).

Between 1980 and 2007, the total number of people under criminal justice supervision more than tripled from approximately 2 million to over 7 million (Harris, Evans, & Beckett 2010).

Courts still grapple with the rising costs associated with a balloon-

ing penal population: • In 2011, local governments spent $21.9 billion on judiciallegal expenditures (Kyckelhahn 2014).

• The overall cost of running jails, prisons, and courtrooms in the United States increased from $6 billion in 1980 to $67 billion in 2010 (Shapiro 2014).

• A study of 11 states found an average of $178 million per state in uncollected court costs, fines, fees, and restitution for state, county, municipal, and local jurisdictions (McLean & Thompson 2007) • Roughly 10 million people owe more than $50 billion in legal financial obligations (LFOs) to courts at all levels (Eisen 2015).

Courts Nationwide Face Budget Shortfalls As expenses continue to rise, courts are expected to manage heavier workloads with inadequate funds. Budget shortfalls strain courts’ abilities to properly administer justice. For instance, early in

2017, Superior Court officers from 49 California counties petitioned Governor Jerry Brown for a boost in the state courts budget, noting that court expenses have soared in recent years while funding has remained stagnant (Richards 2017).

Likewise, in the summer of 2017, a lack of funding forced the Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts to reduce staffing and slash operating hours at courthouses throughout the county (Varona 2017). Costsaving measures like the ones enacted in California and Dade County not only overburden court staff, but also limit citizens’ access to vital services. The struggles these courts face illustrate a broader trend of state and local governments across the nation allocating fewer funds for courts in an effort to balance budgets.

Historically, courts sought to offset the rising costs associated with rendering services by assessing defendants fines and costs upon sentencing. Imposing LFOs on defendants became an especially prevalent practice in the early 1990s after many states began codifying

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their financial penalties (Harris 2016). This increased emphasis on financial punitive measures against defendants represented a substantial paradigm shift in the American criminal justice system at the time, and the ethical implications of LFOs are hotly contested today.

Ethics of Recuperating Costs In the summer of 2014, news of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, being shot and killed by a white police officer sent shockwaves through the City of Ferguson, Mo. The tragic event cast a national spotlight on Ferguson and spurred the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to investigate the City’s problematic law enforcement practices.

The findings were stark.

The Ferguson Report laid bare the racial bias of individuals within Ferguson’s criminal justice system and exposed that law enforcement policies were shaped by the City’s desire for increased revenue generation rather than legitimate public safety concerns. Law enforcement officers and municipal courts in Ferguson unfairly extracted fines and costs from the City’s most vulnerable residents in an effort to balance the City’s budget (U.S. DOJ 2015). In essence, the City impinged upon citizens’ constitutional rights and perpetuated a modern-day debtors’ prison, incarcerating offenders who were incapable of resolving their LFOs. As a result of the DOJ’s scathing report, courts now face increased public scrutiny. Local governments that once relied on the revenue generated by courts aggressively pursuing fines and costs face a new reali-

ty. Clearly, courts must reevaluate activities in a post-Ferguson landscape, yet still find practical ways to optimize collections.

But how? How do courts strike the delicate balance between respecting defendants’ constitutional rights, managing limited resources, and still serving citizens? What are the best practices to ensure ethical, successful court collections?

As daunting as it can seem, courts can achieve compliant, effective collections using four steps: Step 1: Provide clear expectations to defendants and staff, as well as consistent messaging throughout the collection process.

The Ferguson Report revealed that municipal courts failed to consistently provide clear and accurate information to defendants about their LFOs; communication with defendants was known to be “haphazard” and “unreliable” (U.S. DOJ 2015). Miscues also existed between court staff members, in part because policies were unwritten and largely opaque.

The communication issues unearthed in the Ferguson Report plague courts across the country.

In order to optimize the recovery of costs and fines, courts must set consistent expectations throughout the collection process: • Codify fees and charges in one, easy-to-find location to aid in transparency and comprehension (Pepin 2015).

• Deliver written instructions to defendants early and often; written records are far more reliable than oral instructions (Spridgeon 2016).

• Encourage consistent messaging from all court staff when explain-

ing costs and fines to defendants.

Conduct training on procedures for all court operations, and ensure that all written policies and procedures are available not only to staff, but also to the public (U.S. DOJ 2015).

Step 2: Use a bench card to standardize fine and cost assessment. Defendants are often confused about the LFOs attached to their sentences. Courts can ensure that LFOs and their consequences are consistent and transparent by using a bench card, an easy-to-use summary of a defendant’s obligations and rights pertaining to LFOs (Pepin 2015).

The Ohio Supreme Court has been a leader in designing and implementing an effective bench card after the Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberty Union released a report disparaging the state’s court collection practices.

Substantiated complaints against courts in Ohio have dropped in recent years following the state’s implementation of the bench card (Rosenberg 2015).

Several states have implemented bench cards in an effort to make enforcement more transparent and consistent. While bench cards vary slightly from state to state, they typically provide the following: • Definition of fines and costs; generally speaking, fines are a criminal sanction, while costs are a civil obligation (The Supreme Court of Ohio 2014).

• Appropriate laws pertaining to the enforcement of fines and costs.

• Factors judges should consider when assessing a defendant’s ability to pay, including income measured against Federal Poverty Guidelines, living expenses, etc.

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• Sentencing alternatives for LFOs (i.e. community service, etc.).

• Incarceration is to be used only as a last resort.

Step 3: Provide alternatives to through payment plans.

• Easy-to-use payment arrangements are crucial for defendants who cannot immediately afford to pay their LFOs in full. The Ferguson Report details instances in which the court returned partial payments to defendants, refusing anything less than payment in full (U.S. DOJ 2015). By enacting such strict policies, the court severely hampered its ability to collect high balance accounts as well as defendants’ abilities to pay.

• Early intervention services enable defendants to make payments toward their LFOs in a timely, affordable manner.

Solutions preferably have the following benefits for defendants: • Accessibility/Ease-of-Use: Defendants should have the ability to make payments using a variety of convenient options, including electronic checks, debit/credit cards, and automatic payments.

• Transparency: Costs and fees should be clearly defined. Any set-up fees or interest rates charged must align with state or local statutes.

• A payment plan is an affordable way for defendants to resolve LFOs and avoid penalties such as driver’s license suspension.

Interestingly, courts that revoke defendants’ licenses for not paying fines in full actually place a significant barrier to defendants obtaining and maintaining the

Client 1 holds its defendants accountable better than Client 2 thanks to its commitment to a long-term collection strategy.

steady employment required to resolve their LFOs. One study found that 42% of individuals whose licenses were suspended lost their jobs post-suspension, and many were unable to find new positions (Levin & Weiss 2017).

Step 4: Get help. Partner with a reliable third-party collection agency.

• The effective recuperation of fines and costs ultimately requires a tremendous investment of time and money.

Unfortunately, courts usually have a limited supply of valuable FTE resources. Courts often do not have dedicated collection staff, and are rarely capable of providing a full array of convenient payment options for defendants.

Increasingly, the public expects court services to be efficient, transparent, and cost-effective (Matthias & Klaversma 2009). A third-party collection agency can help courts meet those expectations.

A third-party vendor expands staffing capabilities. Additionally,

quality agencies have access to technology resources that can bolster court collections and improve regulatory compliance.

What are the Attributes of a Quality Collections Agency?

• Industry certifications and recognition: Ask if an agency maintains a Professional Practice Management System (PPMS ) Certification from ACA International. This comprehensive program includes a set of compliance requirements and best practice rules. It closely mirrors the ISO 9000 quality standard, ensuring that the agency will meet both your and your consumers’ needs.

• Skip-tracing resources: Agencies with access to more data vendors have access to more databases, which expands their abilities to find defendant contact and asset information.

• Easy-to-use consumer website, instant live chat features, and a mobile app: Consumer-friendly April/May 2019x

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technology makes it easier for defendants to resolve their LFOs. In 2016, 24% of all mobile phone owners reported having made a mobile payment within the last 12 months (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 2016). • Call recording and speech analytics software: Agencies that record 100% of calls and use speech analytics software ensure greater regulatory compliance and protect courts from any false claims. • Client website that provides detailed, time-stamped information for every account sent.

Courts should have access to

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Courts experience a higher recovery rate when they provide more data elements with their accounts.

comprehensive reporting and statistics to monitor overall recovery rates over time. • Rigid data security standards that guard against the prevalence of hackers.

Practices that Optimize Collections • The sooner delinquent accounts are sent to collections, the higher the recovery rate (Spridgeon 2016). Referring accounts quickly reduces the chances that defendants have moved, changed phone numbers, found new employment, or have forgotten details of their sentences. • Supplying a collections partner with more consumer data enables better recovery rates. The chart above shows how courts experience higher recovery rate when they provide more data elements with their accounts.

Agencies that work accounts until the appropriate statute of limitations expire consistently perform better long term than agencies that only work new accounts.

The chart on the previous page

shows how Client 1 leaves accounts with an agency that constantly monitors accounts using change-inlife triggers. Client 2 is with another agency that only works the freshest accounts. Client 1 holds its defendants accountable better than Client 2 thanks to its commitment to a long-term collection strategy.

Conclusion Taken together, the suggestions contained in this paper can aid courts in refining compliant yet effective collection practices in a post-Ferguson landscape. Courts can lay the foundation for the recovery of LFOs by clearly communicating standardized expectations to defendants. Moreover, a reliable collection partner can maximize court resources by easing staffing burdens and using consumer-friendly technology to encourage prompt payments.

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