The advent of electronic, web-based applications has brought the Unified Judicial System (UJS) a unique set of issues; primarily, the absolute need to be able to sustain the projects and applications that are currently in the field (50 applications) and acting upon new ideas and requests which arise from the field.

In Mainframe Programming, five staff members are responsible for oversight of all functions in the department. More than one-million business transactions occur each day at the AOC.

The issue of the progression of new applications and programming which will make the work of the people in the courthouses easier is of paramount importance. Of particular note is the deepening dependency of courts on e-applications (E-Citation, E-Swear, E-Transcripts, E-Appellate, etc.).

IT Support provides critical support to all locations in the state. Five staff are assigned to this section. Recent projects included the roll-out of all kiosks and e-swear, plus continued statewide training on E-filing and other E-apps.

Network and Maintenance is responsible for resolving. Since the hiring of the new Network Administrator and the subsequent return of another staff member in this section, the UJS has not suffered one significant negative event which was not immediately correctible. The introduction of Bluecoat SG increased bandwidth by 30% for our users.

Trial Courts comprises the largest section of the CSIT Division: State Judicial Information System (SJIS), Traffic Help Desk, Tax Intercept and Accounting are attached to this section. A high volume of calls and assistance come through this section on a daily basis. In the Traffic Help Desk area, more than 17,000 calls are answered each month. Staffing in this area was inadequate until recently when the Governor provided funding to be used to hire a help-desk person.

Accountability Courts consists of the Alabama Court Referral Programs and the Drug Court initiative. Alabama has long been in the forefront with dealing with the problems caused by substance abuse and the law. An initiative to launch a drug court in every county of the state was begun in 2007 under Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb’s direction.