Announcing the 2008 Top Ten Court Website Awards
HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE JUSTICE SERVED® Top 10 Court Website Awards !!! The winners for 2008 are chosen from over 4,000 court websites to bring you the best-of-the-best in court cyber-services on the planet. Less than half the list are repeat winners this year, and small courts share the limelight with statewide portals. Congratulations to all the courts on our 10th anniversary list - they have worked hard to set superb examples of quality customer service and access to justice. They deserve our collective praise. Check on this page for links to 10 years of past winners, our evaluation criteria and coming soon … our SERVING JUSTICE blog. Chris Crawford President
Grab our Annual Top Ten Awards postcard. PDF format - allow time for page to load.
Evaluation Criteria

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO www.saccourt.com This unprecedented four-time winner keeps getting better each year. Their impressive choices in online court services are obvious. What is less obvious is that they host web features for other courts, opened E-filing to commercial vendors and enhanced user indexing options. Add high profile case rulings, commuter travel tips and a virtual tour to earn top ranking in court websites.

NEW YORK STATE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM www.courts.state.ny.us This three-time winner is tops in statewide E-court services. In addition to a dizzying array of online features, they support ADA compliance and multiple languages.

RHODE ISLAND JUDICIARY www.courts.state.ri.us The smallest state in the union offers great online content combined with exceptional navigation to help widely disparate users customize their web experience. Plusses are multiple languages, notorious case webcasts, and a jury service video.

NEW JERSEY JUDICIARY www.judiciary.state.nj.us What doesn’t this site offer online? It’s a great one-stop-shop for most court services in the state. Supreme Court webcasts, a mass tort clearinghouse and kids page earn New Jersey a return visit to the winner’s circle.

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF PLACER www.placer.courts.ca.gov This is a reminder that small courts can also offer very good web content. An audio track introduces visitors to the site and extra features include print view and sort order.

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF GLENN www.glenncourt.ca.gov The third Californian on our list is another small court that packs big court website features. A huge selection of online services is delivered via a useful interface, along with enhanced, localized self-help assistance.

SEATTLE MUNICIPAL COURT www.cityofseattle.net/courts Limited jurisdiction courts have high customer contacts and this repeat winner is an excellent example of how to deliver online services right. Extras include marriage service requests, volunteer opportunities and video jail visitation.

TEXAS COURTS ONLINE www.courts.state.tx.us This statewide portal is mostly a pass-through to the non-unified local courts, but their Supreme Court has partnered with St. Mary’s University Law School to offer webcasts that are exceptionally high quality. Check out their archives to see for yourself.

TRAVIS COUNTY (TX) DISTRICT CLERK www.co.travis.tx.us/district_clerk The small number of online services is more than offset by their superb I-jury functionality. Jurors used to endure mass calls for impaneling, but can now do so online. Their customer base choosing the web over personal appearance is staggeringly high.

CENTER FOR COURT INNOVATION www.courtinnovation.org This public/private partnership with the New York State Unified Court System (our #2 winner this year) is a terrific resource that offers demonstration projects, publications, lessons learned and even podcasts of innovative programs to assist victims and promote public trust and confidence in justice.