Public Defender Electronic Document Managment System

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

The Public Defender's Office (PD) faced a crisis in the storage and retrieval of case files. Its burgeoning archived files were beyond all storage capacity making it difficult to locate and retrieve files stored throughout the County. This exposed the County to potential risk in terms of malpracitce actions and disability claims. A State Bar rule requiring case files to remain available to clients during their lifetimes made a bad situation worse. To solve the problem the PD created the Public Defender Electronic Document Management System (PDEDMS). PDEDMS involved three components: a physical warehouse which consolidates all archived physical files with electronic management tracking and retrieval; an electronic conversion process which converts all new files into electronic files as they are closed; and an electronic repository and retrieval system which now holds and retrieves these newly converted digital files. Approximately 70,000 boxes containing over three million cases are now tracked electronically. More than 150,000 scanned files are digitally accessible with the number growing as new cases are scanned. Improved file storage and retrieval has facilitated and enhanced case preparation and resolution and reduced risk management issues.