Barcode and RFID Tracking System

NASCIO 2014 State IT Recognition Awards
Title: Barcode and RFID Tracking System
Category: Cross-boundary
Collaboration and Partnerships
Contact: John Matelski
[email protected]
404.371.6210
Project Initiation Date: August 2010
Project Completion Date: March 2013
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The State Court in DeKalb County has partnered with the Magistrate Court of DeKalb
County, the DeKalb County Clerk of Courts Office and the DeKalb County Marshal’s
Office to automate the process of tracking warrants, other service papers and case files
through barcoding and radio frequency identification (RFID). The project is the first of
its kind in the nation.
A barcode is attached to each warrant, or other service papers, for delivery by the
Marshal’s Office. As deputies complete their deliveries, they use a handheld, barcode
scanning device to scan the documents and data is automatically transmitted to a case
management system. The Marshal’s Office delivers more than 75,000 documents
each year.
An RFID tag is also affixed to every case
file in the State Court and the Magistrate
The Marshal’s Office
Court. The tags are automatically read
delivers more than 75,000 by RFID antennas and the location of the
case file is fed into a document tracking
documents each year.
application. Court officials use the search
function on a handheld device to locate
particular case files. The systems were
intentionally designed for information from the case management system to be shared
with the document tracking system.
The use of barcodes by the Marshal’s
Office and RFID tags by the courts was
planned and implemented as a single
project to improve operational efficiencies
through seamless, complementary
processes that help ensure the timely
resolution of court cases. The new
technology and business processes also
enable court officials to provide the general
public with greater transparency into judicial
processes by ultimately linking the data
gathered by the barcodes and the RFID
tags to a public-facing website where
anyone can search for information about
the status of court cases.
The collaboration among the State Court, the Magistrate Court, the Clerk of Courts
Office and the Marshal’s Office is a model for other collaborative efforts between state
courts and local officials throughout Georgia and the nation.
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BUSINESS PROBLEM AND SOLUTION DESCRIPTION
Keeping track of the numerous documents and files associated with legal actions as
they wind their way through court proceedings can be an enormously confusing and
frustrating challenge. To lessen the challenge, the State Court and the Magistrate Court
of DeKalb County have partnered with the DeKalb County Marshal’s Office to use
barcoding to track Service of Process documents. As a result, officials in the Clerk of
Courts Office and the Marshal’s Office can quickly and easily determine the status of
warrants and other service papers.
Here’s how it all works.
The Marshal’s Office receives multi-part
paper warrants daily from the Clerk of
Courts Office, which serves both the State
Court and the Magistrate Court. DeKalb
County uses Banner, a case management
system, to print a barcode for each warrant.
Personnel in the Marshal’s Office sort the
warrants by zip code and place them in
bins. Deputies take stacks of warrants from
the bins and deliver them. As deputies
deliver warrants and other service papers,
they use a Motorola MC55A handheld,
barcode scanning device to scan the
documents. The device transmits data to
the case management database. Deputies
then return the remainder of the multi-part
form to the Clerk of Courts Office, where it’s
filed and ready for circulation to officials
in either the State Court or the
Magistrate Court.
Marshal’s Office training.
Meanwhile, staff in both the State Court and the Magistrate Court can just as quickly
and easily locate case files. An RFID tag is affixed to every case file; the tags are
automatically read by RFID antennas that are strategically located throughout the
courthouse, and the location of the case file is fed into a document tracking application.
Court officials who need a particular case file then use the search function on a
handheld device to locate it. The device emits an audible alarm when it finds a case
file, and it can read data programmed into barcodes. The systems were intentionally
designed for information from the case management system to be shared with the
document tracking system.
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The project team included various levels of contributors from each group of
stakeholders. The team consisted of an IT project manager; two project sponsors
representing the State Court and the Marshal’s Office; and IT functional and technical
staff from networks, security, server
support, database administration,
applications development and the web
team. Additional personnel from the State
Court, the Magistrate Court, the Marshal’s
Office and the purchasing department
also served on the project team.
The IT project manager facilitated
an extensive requirements-gathering
process, which took over five months
to complete. She utilized numerous
data-gathering techniques, including
facility tours, floor plan reviews, day-toMagistrate Court scanning in service papers.
day operations interviews – including
riding along with deputies – business process reviews and gathering all appropriate
paperwork from the Marshal’s Office, the State Court and the Magistrate Court. The IT
project manager developed process flow diagrams and completed several requirements
reviews with the project team.
A subcommittee of the project team developed an extremely detailed Request for
Proposal. Once the vendor was chosen, the vendor’s project manager and business
analyst conducted a follow-up review and tweaked the requirements.
The budget for the project totaled $225,000.
SIGNIFICANCE
The DeKalb County Marshal’s Office serves over 75,000 documents each year, and
before using barcodes and RFID technology, deputies and state court officials lacked an
efficient and reliable way to track the documents. It meant plaintiffs and others directly
connected to a court case did not always receive accurate, current information about the
delivery of important documents in civil court proceedings.
Barcodes and RFID technology are also making it possible for court officials to provide
the public with greater transparency into court proceedings.
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In the first project of its kind in the nation, deputies use a handheld barcode scanning
device to scan a barcode on documents as they are delivered, and the device transmits
data to the county’s case management database. The case management system shares
information with the DeKalb County Online Judicial System (OJS), a web-based service
that allows members of the public – such as attorneys, parties to cases and news media
– to access information about pending cases (http://www.ojs.dekalbga.org).
Meanwhile, the Clerk of Courts Office
is responsible for maintaining an equal
number of case files, which are moved to
and from multiple locations during the life
of each particular case. To provide some
perspective on the challenge of tracking
these case files, the State Court has seven
trial divisions, and each division has its own
judge and courtroom. In turn, each judge
has a suite of offices with numerous staff.
The Magistrate Court has two courtrooms
and two judges, each with his or her own
chambers and supporting offices
State court clerk’s office applying bar codes to service papers.
The use of RFID technology makes it
possible for court officials to determine the location of critical case files as they are
moved from courtrooms to judges’ chambers to staff and the Clerk of Courts Office. As
a result, any delays in the timely resolution of civil suits cannot be blamed on missing
case files.
The system uses industry standard, passive 13.35 MHz RFID tags, which meet ISO
15693-2 and ISO 18000-3 standards. Additional features include:
•
Lockable fields into which a permanent item identification number can
be encoded
•
Password-protected fields
•
Data security
•
Integration of the label with an adhesive backing that easily sticks to materials
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BENEFITS OF THE PROJECT
The use of barcodes in the handling of warrants
and other service papers means officials in
the Clerk of Courts Office and the Marshal’s
Office can quickly and easily determine their
status. When the information gathered through
the barcodes is transmitted to the county’s case
management system, court officials can know
precisely where a particular document is in the
legal process and how long civil papers are in
the field before their return to the Clerk of
Courts Office.
Enhanced operational
efficiency helps ensure
the timely resolution of
court cases.
Affixing an RFID tag to every case file enables officials in the State Court and the
Magistrate Court to find a particular file using a handheld device.
The use of technology to automate the
tracking of court documents enhances
operational efficiency in the State Court,
the Magistrate Court, the Clerk of Courts
Office and the Marshal’s Office. Enhanced
operational efficiency helps ensure the
timely resolution of court cases.
Court officials are also able to provide the
general public with greater transparency
into judicial processes since the information
gathered through the tracking system
is ultimately shared with a public-facing
website that anyone can use to determine
the status of a particular court case.
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