Announcing the 2005 Top Ten Court Website Awards
It's time for the JUSTICE SERVED® 2005 Top 10 Court Website Awards. This year we reviewed more than 3,000 court websites to find the best of class in e-services for courts. There are eight first time winners this year, with several US state court websites taking top honors. This reflects a trend to offer statewide portals through which users can find general and case-specific court information. Online payment processing is more prevalent, as are e-filing and improved self-service options. Websites are also becoming more professional and better organized, with some offering streaming video and audio containing court arguments, instructional content and orientation. It's not easy to win a place in this listing, and all the winners this year deserve high praise for their commitment to superior public service. We offer our thanks for a job well done, and for serving as excellent models of best practice. Drop by our website to see a complete listing of seven years of current and past winners, our evaluation criteria and bonuses such as our free newsletter and "Ask an Expert" forum. Chris Crawford President
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Evaluation Criteria

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY www.sbcourts.org This is a clear winner of the number one court website this year for their “Remote Electronic Access” feature disseminating case information and press updates about the People vs. Michael Jackson criminal jury trial. They even provide an informative streaming video explaining the application and how it has saved countless staff hours while making the court more accessible to the public it serves. Add to this their web fine payments for traffic and criminal cases, and online tentative rulings and docket information for world-class cyber-services.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS http://www.ncsconline.org This repeat winner from 2003 is the mother lode of court websites with so many features and so much content that it’s impossible to list them all here. Their Best Practices Institute, CourTopics and CourTools, jobs listing, links to court websites, Court Technology Bulletin blog, publications bookstore and research papers are well worth a visit. Click on “Court Websites,” then on “State Court Structure Charts” for a real treat – a state-bystate description of court organizational structures and jurisdictions.

INDIANA COURTS www.in.gov/judiciary This site has a good organizational structure, with features for the public, judges, attorneys, law students and K-12 educators. They offer online child support calculation, online access to opinions, and their citizens guide has several informative streaming videos.

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN MATEO http://www.sanmateocourt.org Dozens of California superior courts have noteworthy websites, but San Mateo County deserves special recognition for their first listing in the Top 10. Web traffic citation payments, EZLegal Forms, online dockets and excellent self help are joined with CourtCall telephonic court appearances and online tentative rulings. In a refreshing twist, they call ADR “appropriate” dispute resolution.

LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT www.lasc.org This state court site offers online access to opinions and even a free RSS news feed of up-to-date rulings. But what sets it apart is their "Louisiana Protective Order Registry," which allows users to login for a wealth of information and access to thousands of civil and criminal protective orders issued by Louisiana courts.

FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA http://courts.phila.gov This jurisdiction handles common pleas, municipal and traffic courts with plenty of online content including citation payments, calendars, online dockets, not guilty pleas with requests for trial, orphan court e-filing, and access to Pennsylvania’s impressive child support Intranet. A good array of e-services for a people’s court, and another deserving first time winner.

THE MISSOURI JUDICIARY www.courts.mo.gov Since its first appearance on the Top 10 list in 2000, Missouri has implemented Case.net, a statewide case management system to offer case indexing and retrieval for all state courts, statewide online fine collection, calendar listings, high court opinions and JEWELS (Judicial Education Web Learning System). A solid model for state court content.

AUSTRALIA NORTHERN TERRITORY GOVERNMENT, FINES RECOVERY UNIT http://www.fru.nt.gov.au This Australian Department of Justice website is truly best practice in recovery of court fines that includes debt management services and features several methods to comply: BPay bank account transfer, online payments using credit cards, Centrepay deductions from monthly stipends, payroll deduction and EFTPOS electronic funds transfer using government ATMs. Court compliance couldn’t be easier.

VERMONT JUDICIARY www.vermontjudiciary.org Another first time winner, Vermont has online court of appeal records, statewide superior court calendars, VTlawhelp, child support calculator, audio files of high court arguments and even online courses for court employees. This is a good portal into statewide judicial services.

HAWAI’I STATE JUDICIARY http://www.courts.state.hi.us State high court sites seem to dominate this year’s roundup. Hawai’i offers online payment, a juror orientation video, web-accessible dockets, and self help text to gain their first appearance in our Top 10.

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!!