FRANKFORT, Ky., Oct. 15, 2024—The Administrative Office of the Courts kicked off its next-generation eCourts initiative today at its main campus in Frankfort following the recent signing of an agreement with Tyler Technologies to provide a new trial court case management system for state courts.
“This marks the beginning of a long-planned technological transformation for the Judicial Branch,” Chief Justice of the Commonwealth Laurance B. VanMeter said. “It is a pivotal milestone in our journey toward fully digitizing court records, ensuring the judiciary is well-equipped to meet the demands of the future.”
The General Assembly made the agreement possible by providing $38 million from the American Rescue Plan Act in 2022 to update AOC’s two-decade-old in-house case management system (CMS).
Recognizing the challenges of attracting and retaining technical talent to rebuild the legacy CMS, the AOC decided to seek a vendor-provided solution. Chief Justice VanMeter said this approach was a more sustainable path forward.
Tyler, a Texas-based leading integrated software and technology services provider for the public sector, was chosen after an evaluation by judges, circuit court clerks and subject-matter experts from the AOC. The company was selected in part for its extensive experience with 21 statewide court systems, including those in Kentucky’s neighboring states of Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia. Tyler also serves North Carolina, whose unified court system is comparable to that of Kentucky.
Tyler’s solution, Enterprise Justice, will be a SaaS deployment powered by Amazon Web Services, known as AWS. The software suite will include online tools for judges, circuit court clerks, attorneys and self-represented litigants. It will also include an eFiling solution that will enable a more efficient process for the courts and greater flexibility for the filing community.
“We are excited to collaborate closely with the Kentucky Court of Justice to support their ongoing commitment to delivering just, prompt and secure resolutions of court matters,” said Brian McGrath, president of Tyler’s Courts & Justice Division. “Our Enterprise Justice suite will enhance their case management processes and ensure continued excellence in accessibility and efficiency as technology evolves and the needs of the community grow.”
Administrative Office of the Courts
The AOC in Frankfort is the operations arm of the state court system. The AOC supports the activities of nearly 3,300 court system employees and 412 elected justices, judges and circuit court clerks. As the fiscal agent for the state court system, the AOC executes the Judicial Branch budget.
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