Clerk Dorothy Brown Launches More 21^st Century

Technology in the Cook County Clerk's Office

By Jalyne R. Strong-Shaw

Chief Deputy Clerk of Public Information

On Monday, November 23, 2009, the Honorable Dorothy Brown launched an Imaging and Document Management System (IDMS) pilot in the Chancery Division of the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, one of several “Green Court” technology initiatives implemented this year in one of the world’s largest unified court systems.

Cook County is the second most populous county in the U.S., larger than 36 states. The Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office provides support to approximately 400 judges in 17 different locations throughout the county. In 2008, there were 1.7 million new cases filed in the Cook County Court Clerk’s Office, and 19.7 million case activities recorded. Cook County has almost one billion electronic court records.

As the official keeper of all court documents, filings, and case activities, the Clerk’s Office chose to implement IDMS as a powerful solution to the need to store and rapidly access court documents. IDMS functions as a central repository of imaged (scanned) court documents. Once scanned, a document can be retrieved using the Clerk’s Office’s electronic docket, and with a click on the screen, an image of the court document can be viewed.

The IDMS technology will greatly enhance the efficiency of the Clerk’s Office’s day-to-day operations, and is a substantial benefit to Clerk’s Office customers, including attorneys, who will be able to view the scanned court documents via public access terminals. The system will also reduce paper use, printing and storage costs and ultimately save taxpayers’ money.

“I am pleased to announce the launch of the Imaging & Document Management System in the Chancery Division of the Clerk’s Office. This is our largest technological project to date, one that will ultimately impact all areas of court operations,” said Clerk Brown at a ribbon-cutting ceremony that commemorated the first officially scanned document into the IDMS system. “This technology brings us closer still to our goal of being a paperless ‘Green’ court system.”

High speed scanners and printers have been installed in the Chancery Division for the IDMS pilot project. The Kodak 780 scanners are capable of handling 130 pages per minute, speeding the processing of the large volume of documents that are routinely filed in the Clerk’s Office.

The Chancery Division will be the first area of the Clerk’s Office to go live with the IDMS technology. Following the Chancery Division, system rollouts will proceed in the Law, Probate, Civil and Domestic Relations Divisions throughout 2010.

The Clerk’s Office was assisted in the implementation of the IDMS pilot project by American Cadastre LLC (DBA AmCad), a Hendon, Virginia-based company with 22 years of automation services to governments, in addition to several local women- and minority-owned firms including: Blackwell Consulting, Bronner Group, Velma Butler & Company, The Frances Group, The Foster Group, Results Engineering and The Young Group.

Clerk Brown is committed to equipping the Clerk’s Office with 21^st Century technology. In addition to the IDMS project, she has initiated the implementation of Electronic-Warrants, Electronic-Filing, an On-Line Ticket Payment System, and an Online Order of Protection program in the Clerk’s Office during 2009.

For more information on IDMS and other Clerk’s Office technology, please visit the Clerk’s Office Website www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org.

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