Posted: 11/11/2022
NORTHEASTERN JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
For Immediate Public Release
November 11, 2022
HALL COUNTY COURTS EXPECT TO LAUNCH NEW CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14
On Monday, November 14, three Hall County courts are expected to "flip the switch" and transition onto a next-generation Case Management System. Hall County Superior Court, State Court, and Magistrate Court will each move to the ICON CMS360 platform, a web-based record system that will replace the Comprehensive Justice Information System (CJIS) in use by the county since the 1980s.
"This project is a long time coming," stated Chief Judge Kathlene F. Gosselin. "We're eager to see Hall County join the same system as previously deployed in Dawson County, and we ask for everyone's patience as our staff and, in particular, Clerk employees adjust to the new software."
The Clerk of Courts Office and Magistrate Court will both close early to the public on Friday, November 11, in preparation for the weekend changeover. The Clerk of Courts office will close to the public at approximately 12:00pm, after all court proceedings have concluded for the day, and Magistrate Court will close to the public at 2:00pm. Both will reopen on Monday, November 14, at 8:30am.
Additionally, electronic filing in State and Superior Courts through the PeachCourt portal may be unavailable from 5pm on Thursday, November 10, until 8am on Monday, November 14.
"The real benefits of the new system will be on the back-end," stated Michelle Meeks, Chief Deputy Clerk for Superior and State Court. "It will better equip our clerk staff and judges to handle the tens of thousands of cases we see each year. But we look forward to using the system to expand our communication and access options also available to the public."
ICON CMS360 will docket all case types for the courts, including civil and criminal, as well as provide financial and document management capabilities. Future plans include integrating the new system with various compatible software solutions used by prosecutors, law enforcement, and probation services. Funding for the project was approved by Hall County Commissioners in September 2021.
The courts previously announced plans to transition to an alternative case management system, one offered in conjunction with the State of Georgia's Administrative Office of the Courts. After all parties agreed to sunset that project in May 2021, court officials evaluated and selected a trio of new products from the ICON brand instead. CMS360 is the second of three planned conversions, the first of which was a new jury management software deployed ni September 2021 and the last of which will be real estate records in early 2023.