Announcing the 2003 Top Ten Court Website Awards
The 2003 winners of the JUSTICE SERVED™ Top 10 Court Website Awards are here! The total number of court websites worldwide has grown substantially in the past year. We looked at more than 900 sites this year to choose these well-deserved winners. Among the court Web trends we spotted are a growing number of collaborations with state administrative offices of the courts to enable smaller courts to offer Internet access to their customers. A handful of courts partner with colleges and universities, while others use Web hosting services provided by the National Center for State Courts and private firms. Our #1 winner collaborated with a neighboring jurisdiction to share online, interactive forms assistance for small claims litigants. One thing is for certain -- the standard is now higher in terms of the kinds of online transactions that are offered to customers. Credit card payments, online indexing and digital court forms have now become baseline services. What distinguishes best-of-class today is easy navigation, intuitive content accessibility, and extra features. You can make sure we consider your website in our judging for 2004 by sending us an email to info@justiceserved.com. Congratulations to our 2003 winners, and kudos for serving as positive models of e-government service.
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Evaluation Criteria

Superior Court of CA - County of Santa Clara www.sccsuperiorcourt.org Many California superior courts offer commendable Web services, but Santa Clara takes the top prize for e-court features. Jury service status, great self-help, online traffic school and traffic payments are enough to make the winner's list ... what puts this one over the top are the shared collaboration with San Mateo County for small claims forms assistance, and a superb Intranet function for complex civil litigation.

Subordinate Courts of Singapore http://www.subcourts.gov.sg Last year, the Ministry of Law in Singapore won a prize ... this year, the Subordinate Courts earn recognition for a stunning array of court Web features, including multi-door courthouse, e-commerce online dispute resolution, Justice Online videoconferencing for attorney court appearances, small claims e-filing (and video appearances), and a good self-help centre.

National Center for State Courts www.ncsconline.org NCSC has always had rich Web content, but this site has now grown into a full-fledged court information portal for all things related to judicial administration. The content is now sorted into more intuitive categories and the CourtInfo portal is a rich resource for best practice, research and background on a stunning variety of court-related topics. Users can even find common solutions to compliance with ADA regulations.

New Jersey Judiciary http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us Several state court websites were strong contenders, but New Jersey has it all, including e-filing, statewide traffic index and online payment, statewide civil calendar index, online opinions and a mass tort information center.

Waukesha County (WI) Family Court Self Help courtselfhelp.waukeshacounty.gov Although they do not have a full spectrum of court jurisdiction, these folks concentrate on their main mission: offering top-notch resources to self-represented litigants in the family court. Procedural checklists, a representation quiz, divorce flowchart and much more exemplify super service.

Pierce County (WA) Legal Information Network Exchange http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/cfapps/linx/main.cfm Who else is offering an electronic inmate indexing feature that includes booking charges and links to Superior Court cases? Users can also view and print Superior Court and jail calendars online. Finally, this site has case indexing, a host of online attorney content and an e-filing Intranet.

US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia www.dcb.uscourts.gov US Bankruptcy Courts have much of the same Web content that includes a robust electronic filing system. However, this site is laid out better than others, including online access for daily calendars, credit card acceptance from attorneys, and the PACER system offering a fee-based subscription service for file information.

US District Court for the District of Columbia http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov DC is on a roll for quality federal court Web services. The E-Government Act of 2002 mandates Web applications for US federal courts, but some excel at it. The e-filing features are readily accessible, as are dockets, calendars and opinions. As a bonus, they offer email notification on high profile case activities for interested parties.

Vermilion (OH) Municipal Court www.vermilionmunicipalcourt.org Just because a limited jurisdiction court serves a population base of only 11,000, doesn't mean they don't appre-ciate the need for quality Web court services. Online payments are good here, but this court will also tell you what services and advice their clerks CAN give. A good FAQ and online case indexing is offered.

Alchua County (FL) Clerk of the Court http://www.clerk-alachua-fl.org This north/central Florida county site serves a relatively small population base of 200,000, but its website is packed with good content. It offers an online civil traffic citation index, online jury excusal/reassignment and a host of electronically accessible public records. Noteworthy extras include ancient records and a virtual museum.

Check out the JUSTICE SERVED Top-10 Court Website Awards for 2009. Drop by to see 11 years of current, and past winners, including examples of excellent court Web applications and our evaluation criteria. Join Chris Crawford at the Court Technology Conference 2009 where he will co-present two education sessions: (1) on paper-on-demand, and (2) on court websites. He will also have a booth at space 409, so drop by and say hello in Denver, September 22-24. Justice Served is now collaborating with Humboldt Merchant Services to offer an exciting new service... Credit Card Processing for courts at well below market rates. Inquire for a free, no obligation quote. Chris Crawford was a featured guest for an online interview with Tampa Digital Studios about the Top 10 Court Website Awards in 2007. The interview can be found on YouTube. Remember, our free Newsletter and our new Serving Justice blog are only two of the improved e-services we offer. Please bookmark this site, explore and return often to see what's new in court management and technology for courts, justice agencies and their partners in technology!!