Guam Courts to See Vital IT Upgrade by October

(CN) - Guam court officials announced this week that they are on track to debut a new online case-management system.

The Court Information Management System is expected to go live this October.

Guam's judiciary awarded the IT contract to Hewlett-Packard's HP Enterprise Services division, which utilizes small business software from New Dawn Technologies, in June 2011.

Before the U.S. Department of the Interior funded the project with a $3.7 million grant, Guam's former Gov. Felix Camacho put up $2.1 million in discretionary Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to get a head start on the upgrade.

In his May 2010 State of the Judiciary Address, Chief Justice Robert J. Torres said the upgrade that will "bring us out of green screens and into the 21st century."

"When fully implemented, our new and improved case-management system will further ensure that doors to justice remain open to all, 24-7," Torres said.

The system will function like many others in United States, with payment, jury-management with statistical capabilities. It will also help judges manage their caseloads and revenue.

Guam is also still focusing on the Criminal Justice Information System, which Torres called a "flagship program for the country." It maintains real-time criminal histories on convicted individuals with other information captured during the criminal justice process.

Torres said the U.S. Marshals division in Guam has acquired that program's software and hardware so that criminal-history information can be shared between the Guam Police Department, the Department of Corrections and the Attorney General's Office.

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