Most people don’t like dealing with the complex judicial system, whether they are a victim of a crime or accused of one, Hamilton County Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean said at a Tuesday news conference.
A new smartphone application called Hamilton County Judicial Services, now available to the public, is a one-stop shop that will make it a little bit easier, Dean said.
The app offers many features and information including where criminal court, juvenile court, civil court and alternative sentencing are located and what service each court provides. It cost the county about $20,000 to develop the app, and a three-year service contract was about an additional $20,000, Dean said.
Not only will the app improve efficiency within the court system and local government, but it will reduce expenses for taxpayers, Hamilton County Commissioner David Sharpe, D-Red Bank, said at the conference.
“It will also go a long way to keep individuals who are experiencing the court system at home with their families and at work doing their jobs, which in the end creates a safer environment,” Sharpe said. “Those are important things that oftentimes go unmentioned.”
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The county wanted to cut down on charges for failure to appear in court, Criminal Court Chief of Staff Jason Clark said.
About 10% of incarcerations each year are from people unnecessarily missing court dates, Clark said. It costs the county about $100,000 each year to jail those individuals.
Hamilton County Judicial Services / The Hamilton County Judicial Services app is now available to the public.Once a defendant is released from the Hamilton County Jail, he or she will automatically get a text message from the application about any upcoming court dates tied to the arrest, Clarke said.
The initial notification will go out three days prior to the scheduled court appearance, and an additional reminder will be sent the day before, Clark said.
A victim of a crime can sign up for a similar service to receive a push notification anytime the case is scheduled on the court docket.
Those who received an alternative sentence can also use the app to communicate with the office and probation officers about programs such as alcohol and GPS monitoring.
“Instead of making 10, 15 phone calls trying to figure out where they need to go, they are going to know by using this application,” Clark said.
Anyone who has been ordered to pay a court cost or fine can now pay through the app rather than make a trip to the courthouse. Hamilton County defendants owe criminal court and general sessions more than $234 million in unpaid fines, Dean said earlier this month.
The court system is planning to partner with the sheriff’s office, which also just rolled out a new app, Dean said. The goal is to make the information accessible on both of the platforms.
“It literally took a village to get to this point,” Dean said.
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.