cijs - texas a&m universitytidc.tamu.edu/dgreportdocuments/212-14-d05 2_caren... · 2014. 3....

2014 Indigent Defense Conference March 17, 2014

CIJSCommon Integrated Justice System

Caren SkipworthCollin

Jeff PuckettTyler

COLLIN COUNTY

COLLIN COUNTY BACKGROUND

• Collin County was established in 1846

• We are a rapidly growing county with current population of 834,652

• There are 9 District Courts and 6 County Courts

• In Fiscal Year 2013, the County recorded $7.8 million in indigent legal costs

• In Fiscal Year 2013, the County processed 11,995 attorney pay sheets

Presenter: Caren Skipworth – Collin County IT CIO Page 1 of 30

TIDC GRANT OVERVIEW

GRANT HISTORY

• Originally started as a grant to streamline attorney pay sheet processing at Collin County in December 2012

• Through many meetings with various departments, the grant focus expanded to cover Indigent Defense processes in January 2013

• Collin County received ‘Notice to Proceed on FY2014 Discretionary Grant Application ‘ from TIDC on February 19, 2013

• First draft of the grant application for Indigent Defense was completed March 25, 2013

• Final grant application approved by Collin Count Commissioners Court on April 15, 2013

• Texas Indigent Defense Commission has awarded Collin County the grant on 09-27-2013 in the amount of $426,240

• Grant covers a Indigent Defense Improvements and Attorney Pay Sheet Processing


TIDC GRANT OVERVIEW

COLLIN COUNTY PARTICIPATION

• Collin County participated in the CUC TechShare Indigent Defense Planning Project in August, 2013 in Austin

• In August, 2013, the decision was made to proceed with Indigent Defense efficiencies in Odyssey product instead of interfacing with a third-party module

• Collin County Indigent Defense Project Team held Project Kick-off meeting on 10-13-2013


TIDC GRANT OVERVIEW

TIMELINE – ORIGINAL PLAN

• Scope of Work for Tyler Technologies Professional Services completed 01-28-2014

• Scope of Work for Indigent Defense Consultant completed 02-07-2014

• First Grant Status update submitted to TIDC on 01-15-2014

• Planned to obtain Commissioners Court’s approval for Indigent Defense consultant and Tyler Technology Professional Services Agreement on 01-20-14

• RFP process would end 05-01-14 with Commissioners Court award of the bid forecasted for 04-21-2014

• Execution Phase of the Grant would start 05-05-2014 and end 07-04-2014

• Construction / Testing / Training of Odyssey changes would occur 08-15-2014 through 10-03-2014

• Go-Live Implementation forecasted for 10-06-2014


TIDC GRANT OVERVIEW

VENDOR INVOLVEMENT

• Tyler Professional Services agreement drafted for partnership with grant approved Indigent Defense consultant

• Tyler Technologies met with Collin County Indigent Defense Project Team (Indigent Defense staff, IT Staff, Auditing staff, and Courts staff) on 03-06-2014 to receive overview of Indigent Defense and Attorney Pay Sheet business processes at Collin County


PRE-MAGISTRATION / ARRAIGNMENT PROCESSES

INDIGENT DEFENSE STAFF

• Video magistration is performed each day at the Collin County Jail

• The County Clerk’s Indigent Defense Office staff attends video arraignment each morning Monday thru Friday at the Collin County Jail

• The County Clerk’s Arraignment Clerk completes the magistration paperwork using forms that are pre-loaded in Odyssey

• The County Clerk’s Indigent Defense Coordinator reviews arraignment paperwork with defendants, asks them about representation, and has them sign magistration notification and orders if applicable

• If court appointed counsel is requested, the defendant is given a paper application to fill out, sign, and return immediately

• After all magistration paperwork is completed/signed, then all documents are scanned/saved into one PDF file and e-mailed to the arraignment Judge.

Presenter: Jessica Likness – Collin County IT Project Manager, Tracye Sparks – Collin County Indigent DefensePage 6 of 30

VIDEO MAGISTRATION / ARRAIGNMENT PROCESSES

• The Justice of the Peace Judge appears via video during the magistration process

• Defendants in the Collin County Jail are called up individually on camera before the Judge

• The Justice of the Peace Judge reviews the defendants charges and sets bond amounts

• At the Jail, the Arraignment Clerk monitors the video magistration and handwrites the bond amounts on the magistration notification form for on-view charges or out of county warrants that the Judge sets bonds for

• After arraignments are complete, the Arraignment Clerk photocopies of all documentation that was sent to the Judge and brings the paperwork back to the Office.


POST ARRAIGNMENT PROCESSES

• The Arraignment Clerk files a case in Odyssey for each person that is magistrated

• Each individual photocopied document brought back from the Jail is scanned into respective events in Odyssey

• All requests for court appointed counsel (paper applications) are reviewed and a determination of indigency is made usually the same day or by the end of the next working day


POST ARRAIGNMENT PROCESSES (continued)

• If the defendant is determined to be indigent, an attorney is appointed• Appointments are made from one of 6 Attorney Wheels in Odyssey• Attorneys are notified by email that they have been assigned an

indigent case• At the time the appointment is done, copies of the appointment

information is scanned into the documents tab in Odyssey Jail Manager

• If a defendant is found not indigent and is charged with a felony, their indigent defense application is reviewed again in 14 days from their arrest

• On the re-review date, if the defendant is still in custody, they are deemed indigent and counsel is appointed

• If the defendant is found to be indigent and is charged with a felony, the defendant’s documents are also sent to the District Clerk’s Office

• If the defendant is found to be indigent and is charged with a misdemeanor, the defendant’s documents are sent to the County Clerk’s Office


INDIGENT DEFENSE / JUVENILE DEFENDANT PROCESSES

• When a Juvenile is taken into custody, the incident information provided by the arresting agency is reviewed by the Juvenile Intake staff and a determination is made whether or not to detain the child.

• If the child is detained, a detention hearing is scheduled for the next business day.

• At the detention hearing, there is an attorney assigned by the Court for that day who represents all Juveniles that do not have counsel, whether they are indigent or not.

• Requests for court appointed counsel are obtained by the Juvenile Court Officer at the time of the detention hearing and the applications are forwarded to the Indigent Defense Office for processing and appointment of attorneys.


INDIGENT DEFENSE / MENTAL HEALTH DEFENDANT PROCESSES

• During the book-in process, each defendant is seen by the medical staff and a brief evaluation done.

• During the evaluation, if they determine that there could be a possible mental health issue, a document that we call a “yellow sheet” is created which indicates what the possible issue/issues are.

• The yellow sheets are brought to arraignment each morning by the arraignment officer and given to the Indigent Defense Coordinator.

• All yellow sheets received for that day are scanned/saved as a PDF document.

• For all defendants who request court appointed counsel and are determined to be indigent, an attorney is appointed from the mental health attorney wheel.

• There are also instances where the MHMC office receives referrals from other sources such as the Court, family members or the Indigent Defense Specialist.


ATTORNEY WHEELS

• The Indigent Defense Coordinator maintains the attorney wheels (6 in all) in Odyssey.

• To get on the appointment wheel, attorneys must complete an application with supporting documentation attached and submit it to the Indigent Defense Office.

• Applications are reviewed by a panel of Judges at their monthly meetings and if approved, the attorney is added to the requested appointment wheel.

• Each attorney that is on an appointment wheel is required to submit a renewal application that is due by 12/31 of each year. Reminder letters and renewal applications are mailed out by the Indigent Defense Coordinator on October 1st

of each year.


JUSTICE OF THE PEACE ARRAIGNMENT PROCESSES

ARRAIGNMENT PROCESS

• Defendant is brought to the Courtroom within the Jail• Court staff begins the arraignment process• Court staff deals with Magistrate Warning issues, Emergency Protective Orders, Bond

Conditions, Consulate Notifications and language translation challenges• Clerk prepares paperwork and sends to Judge in a PDF file

ARRAIGNMENT PROCESS – JUDGE’S DUTIES

• Appears on video and speaks to each defendant individually• Informs Defendant of their charge and bond (if any)• Reviews any bond conditions that may apply• Verifies whether a court appointed attorney was requested• Determines if the consulate issue applies

Presenter: Judge Paul Raleeh – Collin County Justice of the Peace – Precinct 1 Page 13 of 30


ARRAIGNMENT PROCESS

• Judge has a final review with the staff to ensure there is no confusion on forms, paperwork or other Court orders

ARRAIGNMENT PROCESS – JUDGE’S DUTIES

• Appears on video and speaks to each defendant individually• Informs Defendant of their charge and bond (if any)• Reviews any bond conditions that may apply• Verifies whether a court appointed attorney was requested• Determines if the consulate issue applies

ARRAIGNMENT PROCESS – FINAL REVIEW

• Judge has a final review with the staff to ensure there is no confusion on forms, paperwork or other Court orders



VIDEO ARRAIGNMENT MAGISTRATION PROCESS


DISTRICT AND COUNTY JUDGESIndigent Defense Responsibilities

• Create and approve the Collin County Indigent Defense Plan

• Review annually• Submit to TIDC

• Approve appointment of counsel/override Indigent Defense office determination of defendant ineligibility, if appropriate (cost/benefit analysis)

• Approve requests from appointed attorneys for investigators, psychologists, therapists, etc.

• Review applications of new attorneys requesting appointment to attorney wheels

Presenter: Pamela DeVault – Collin County District and County Court Administrator Page 16 of 30


• Review and investigate attorney complaints from defendants• Advise attorney of complaint (forward copy of letter)• Check jail logs, video visitation logs for attorney interaction with defendant• Hold hearings, if necessary• Remove attorney from appointment wheel if warranted

• Consider attorney requests for removal from case

• Approve attorney intermittent pay sheets• Examine length of time case has been around• Examine how often attorney has interacted with defendant• Look up information in Odyssey, confirm with jail, check video visitation log



• Consider attorney requests for removal from case

• Approve attorney intermittent pay sheets• Examine length of time case has been around• Examine how often attorney has interacted with defendant• Look up information in Odyssey, confirm with jail, check video visitation log

• Work extensively with other indigent defense programs such as the Collin County Mental Health Managed Counsel program

• Approve attorney final pay sheets• Must be submitted within 30 days of case disposition• Failure to do so may result in nonpayment, absent extenuating

circumstances


AUDITOR PROCESSES

CURRENT INDIGENT ATTORNEY PAYMENT WORKFLOW

• Attorney completes paper Appointed Counsel Request for Compensation Form

• Attorney delivers form to presiding Judge for approval

• Form is delivered via County mail or hand delivered by the attorney

• Form is reviewed by grant personnel in County Auditor’s Office and coded appropriately to capture data

• Form is delivered to Accounts Payable (within County Auditor’s Office) for payment processing

• Check is delivered to the Treasury (County Clerk’s Office). The Treasury mails the check (unless instructed otherwise)

• Copies of form are filed with the County Auditor, the District or County Clerk, and Probation (Juvenile or Adult), and provided to the paid attorney

Presenter: Jeff May – Collin County Auditor Page 19 of 30

AUDITOR PROCESSES

CURRENT PROCESS – ATTORNEY’S RESPONSIBILITY

• Once services have been performed the Attorney must complete an Appointed Council Request for Compensation Form

• The form is then hand delivered by the Council to the presiding judge for approval

CURRENT APPOINTED COUNSEL REQUEST FOR COMPENSATION FORM

• Paper form is in quadruplicate with each copy a different color

• Form was approved for use by all judges

• All courts use the same form except for the County Probate Court (issues court order for payments)

• The form is a critical piece to capture data for TIDC reporting


AUDITOR PROCESSES

CURRENT ATTORNEY PAY SHEET FORM


AUDITOR PROCESSES

CURRENT PROCESS – JUDGES RESPONSIBILITY

• The Judge must review the Appointed Counsel Request for Compensation Form and approve or reject it

• If rejected the form is returned to the attorney

• The Judge has the authority to modify the amount requested

• Once approved the form is sent to the County Auditor’s Office via County mail or hand delivered by the attorney

• Occasionally forms do not arrive to the County Auditor’s Office causing delays

CURRENT PROCESS – COUNTY AUDITOR GRANT ACCOUNTANT RESPONSIBILITY

• Grant accountant is responsible for coding the payment request with the correct general ledger coding and project codes to ensure the data can be captured for TIDC reporting

• Occasionally issues occur with payment request causing questions of the attorney or the Judges which causes delays.

• Once approved by grant personnel the forms are hand delivered to Accounts Payable within the County Auditor’s Office.


AUDITOR PROCESSES

CURRENT PROCESS – COUNTY AUDITOR GRANT ACCOUNTANT RESPONSIBILITY – CONT’D

Verification of the following takes place:• Correct cause number(s) listed• Offense• Defendant name• Case level area filled out• Attorney information boxes all completed• Attorney and judicial signatures• Judge’s approved amount included (can vary from amount requested)• All supporting documentation attached


AUDITOR PROCESSES

CURRENT PROCESS – COUNTY AUDITOR GRANT ACCOUNTANT RESPONSIBILITY – CONT’D

• Odyssey is currently utilized to verify:• Correct case number• Defendant’s name• Jail time• The charge• Review the events to verify charges are accurate and reasonable

• There are instances in which a case number and/or a defendant name is missing. In this instance, the accountant can look up the information to complete the missing information.

• While verifying case number and defendant name, accountant retrieves Sheriff jailing # from Odyssey

• Sheriff jailing # is used to verify the indigent status on the Indigent Defense Coordinator’s defendant database

• Accountant then reviews all pay sheets for duplicate pay in the financial system


AUDITOR PROCESSES

PAY SHEET CODING

• The grant accountant will create a cover sheet for each pay sheet

• Each case number is coded separately for proper tracking for the TIDC Formula Grant

• The Auditor’s Office utilizes project codes to further segregate the accounting detail for accurate reporting and for statistical analysis

• The County Auditor’s Office tracks all indigent defense payment information utilizing project codes and general ledger number

• Information is captured by court, case number, case type, defendant name, vendor, and expenditure type in the accounting system to ensure all reporting requirements are met

• This allows a large amount of information to be sliced and diced in many ways to enhance reporting capabilities for statistics and analysis

• Using project codes for reporting can allow us to be proactive when dealing with new reporting requirements

• Enhances and automates the ability to gather data for TIDC Formula Grant reporting


AUDITOR PROCESSES

ATTORNEY PAYMENT COVER SHEET


TREASURY PROCESSES – COUNTY CLERK

ATTORNEY CHECKS

• The Treasury (County Clerk’s Office) is responsible for mailing attorney checks or handling special release requests


AUDITOR – ENHANCEMENT GOALS

INDIGENT ATTORNEY PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS

• Complete new electronic version of Appointed Counsel Request for Compensation Form

o Attorney enters name and TIN the form will automatically populate the necessary vendor information required on the paysheet

o Attorney enters the case number the form will automatically populate the necessary defendant information required on the paysheet

o Attorney will attach the supporting documentation for payment request

• The form and supporting documentation will be submitted to the Judge through a website portal (no paper)

• No more hand delivery of documents to the County Auditor’s Office

• Attorney will be able to go to the web portal to see the status of their payment requests

• Attorney payments will be made via bank transfer instead of waiting for a paper check

• Payment time will be reduced due to automating processes



JUDGE’S PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS

• Approve, modify or reject attorney payment request via electronic devices at any location

• Eliminate paper documents and mailing documents

• Can check the status of attorney payments

GRANT ACCOUNTANTS (COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE)

• Eliminate paper documents and filing space

• Eliminate the risk of missing documents

• Indigent verification will be automated reducing processing time and eliminate the need to complete a cover sheet

• Automate coding for reporting by deriving it through information within Odyssey

• Required fields on payment request form will enhance accuracy of form and reduce processing time

• Increases the amount of personnel and time to redirect to other tasks



ACCOUNTS PAYABLE (COUNTY AUDITOR’S OFFICE)

• Eliminates data entry by being processed as a batch and then uploaded into financial system for accounts payable processing

• Eliminates paper

• Updates Odyssey with payment request information

• Email notification sent to attorney notifying check or ACH has been processed

• Dramatically reduces the number of calls on payment status

• Increases the amount of personnel time to be available for other activities

TREASURY (COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE)

Eliminate the number of paper checks by offering ACH deposits

Reduces the number of calls on payment status

Reduces the amount postage and envelope cost

Reduces the amount of personnel and time spent on stuffing envelopes and disbursing to attorneys


cijs - texas a&m universitytidc.tamu.edu/dgreportdocuments/212-14-d05 2_caren... · 2014. 3....

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