Automated Reminders and Check-ins
For Courts

More On Defendant Management
Automated Court & Checkin Reminders

Software automation to assist those interacting and supporting offenders and defendants in criminal justice is rapidly being implemented in many States and counties.

The best approach to consider and review systems for probation officers, parole officers and courts (clerks of the court, public defenders and district attorneys) includes a five point system : budget cost, ease of instant implementation (easy to use online cloud software), vendor quality including time in business, avoiding long term vendor lock-in contracts with unnecessary maintenance contracts and lastly the ease of working with existing commonly used tools (eg Microsoft Word and Excel, text Reminders on common networks AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint etc).  

There are differences in pre-conviction (eg probation, bail, pre-trial and jail related) for court date reminders, diversion programs, drug tests and check in reminders for defendants (or the 'accused') and the post-conviction parole conditions for offenders (or the 'parolee' or 'previously incarcerated' with reference to prisons). Our philosophy was to review and identify the strengths of some of the providers (eg Equivant JWorks, DXC Technology Offender 360, Tyler Supervision Incode and Odyssey, Automon CE, Northpointe, Uptrust, eCourtDate, CorrectTech, CFire, Scram, Info-Cap, Syscon, Probation Software, Micropact, C-Track Court Management, Uni-Court and Journal Technologies eCourt) and then focus on the essence of what elegant and simple to use software would look like. If a user is proficient in Microsoft Word, they should continue to use that for case notes and simply attach. If a user wants to add their own reminder type for a new diversion program, they should be able to edit and create that without the need to talk to IT. We consider best practices that come from associations that assist in the process thinking of the various verticals, for example American Probation & Parole Association, PBUS, NAPSA, FCCA Federal Court Clerks Association and American Judges Association.

Touching on parole and pre-conviction defendant management, apart from diversion and probation management, there are ideological differences between court services and the traditional money bail system.  Court services argue that they focus primarily on the rights of the defendant (or alleged perpetrator) with the argument they have not been found guilty. The bail industry focuses on the protecting the rights of society and the victim, as the bail incentive best ensures defendants actually show up at court based on the penalty if they do not. The two sides have passionate arguments yet different philosophies, but essentially both are part of the defendant management life cycle before a court hearing on guilt or otherwise. Cash money bail is the traditional system in which judges can order defendants to pay a certain amount – which varies based on the offense – in order to be released. In a majority of cases, defendants contract with a bail bond company to pay the full amount of the bond with the court in exchange for a premium fee, usually about 10%. If the defendant appears at his appointed court and does not do a "skip", the bail agency is released from its obligation to court and is compensated by the defendant's premium as payment. If the defendant does not appear, the bail agent (and their insurance company, known as a "surety") act to bring the defendant back to court. The general idea behind this system is that the threat of financial penalty helps prevent misconduct or re-offending. Bail agencies also do a lot of behind the scenes work to make sure the defendants show up to court and don’t skip town, such as weekly check-ins and court reminders. Court services are a cost to taxpayers and cash bail cost is born by the defendant.

Touching on post-conviction and parole offender management, there is a growing trend to reduce the incarcerated prison population. Incarceration rates are often managed through increased early release with increased parole officer workloads. What has followed has been an increased use of EM (electronic monitoring). Our solutions bring together three big pillars of tracking individual case management notes, automating check in reminders (or our software does the check in for you with the optional GPS Check In links included in Reminders and the third element of integrating the most commonly used EM provider's directly accessible from our case file.  Our software automatically works with most leading electronic monitors including AMAS Scram, STOP Securus, 3M Attenti, Tracker, and others

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Being Software as a Service, we are able to provide services nationally, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.