SUCCESS STORY

Florida County EnhancesService to Citizens
Pinellas County replaces paper with automation andonline access managed through OpenText Case360

FIndustryounded in 1912, Pinellas County is the most densely
populated county in the state of Florida and currently
Government
boasts a population of nearly one million residents.
CustomerKnown for its sandy white beaches, charming shopping
districts, and cities such as Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, and Clerk of the Circuit Court,
St. Petersburg, Pinellas County is consistently recognized for Pinellas County, Florida
its recreational opportunities, family attractions, and highChallenges
quality of life. The Pinellas County government is made up
Millions of documentsof a unique mix of 25 governmental bodies that manage
Paper-based management
the county’s 24 municipalities and unincorporated areas.
nnn

Manual entry caused
information bottlenecks
The Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court
office is responsible for maintaining court
records and pleadings, securing court evidence, collecting and disbursing court fines,
and a variety of other functions within theCounty’s judicial system. By serving as theprimary information collection department
for the County’s judicial system, the Clerk’soffice is instrumental in ensuring that theCounty courts efficiently serve its citizens.
However, like many counties experiencing
rapid growth, Pinellas County experienced
process inefficiencies that hampered its
ability to achieve its “Excellence in Customer
Satisfaction” mission.

For instance, after a traffic citation was written,
paper tickets were submitted to the Clerk’s
office for data entry into the County’s central
repository. However, manual data entry wasslow and difficult to manage, leading toprocess bottlenecks. In an effort to more
efficiently process information, the Clerk’soffice completed an initiative to improve its
traffic imaging solution and, shortly thereafter,
the County Sheriff’s department implemented
a new, in-car ticketing system that could becapable of integrating with the County’s
citation repository. “At first, we weren’t sure
if we were going to be able to integrate
directly with the Sheriff’s new in-car ticketing system,” says Ken Burke, Clerk of theCircuit Court for Pinellas County. “However,we did know that if we could integrate withEN T ER PR ISE I N FO R M AT I O N M A N AG E M EN T

Legislated mandates

Solutionn

OpenText Case360

BenefitsnPaperless systemnAutomated entry and online access

nRegulation compliancen

Improved service

SUCCESS STORY
the new system, there would be a real opportunity to streamline the data entry process.”
As well as experiencing bottlenecks in thecitation entry and verification processes,
traffic judges were still relying on manila
folders with citation documentation to maketheir rulings.
The County needed a solution that would
enable judges to access information fromthe Clerk’s central repository, where citation
information and driving records were held.
With access to the central repository, judges
could more efficiently view related documents
during courtroom proceedings, which could
have an impact on their rulings. In addition
to meeting their own goals, pending information-sharing mandates from the state
government prompted Pinellas County officials to begin looking for the technologies
that would enable them to meet the growing
needs of their citizens while positioning themselves for the future.

Paper replaced withautomation and accessibility
Pinellas County selected OpenText Case360to better manage the interdependent processes found within the Clerk’s office. First,
the OpenText solution was integrated directlywith the Sheriff’s new in-car ticketing system.
As traffic citations are written, information istransmitted to the Sheriff’s office and thento the Clerk’s office where it is processedand digitally stored in the County’s mainframe. As traffic officers submit their paper
tickets to the Clerk’s office, their barcodes
are scanned and a simple information verification process takes place to ensurethat the transmitted information matches
the paper ticket.
“In the past, thousands of hours each year
were spent manually inputting traffic citation information into our repository,” says
Burke. “The integration of the Sheriff department’s in-car ticketing technology with theOpenText solution has enabled Pinellas
County to reallocate our resources to otherareas within our organization. Additionally,
despite the fact that the Clerk’s office andSheriff’s department were making significant
improvements to their systems at the sametime, the inherent flexibility of the OpenText
solution and in-car ticketing system madethe integration economically feasible anddid not require a large time investment.”

By removing the paper-based processes
within the Clerk’s office, Pinellas County has
also improved the efficiency of its trafficcourtrooms. The County has developed acourtroom automation system that enables
judges to access the history of an individual,
including their recent traffic violations. The
system also provides judges with accessto driving records, past citations, andFlorida’s centralized traffic systems. “In thepast, Pinellas County traffic judges weregiven folders with documentation outlining
a resident’s citations and traffic history,”
explains Burke. “As the number of cases hasgrown, so has the need for a more efficient
way of handling court documents.”

Proactive productivity
serves citizens
Since the implementation of the OpenText
case management system, the County has
experienced a number of benefits. First, theintegration of OpenText solution with Pinellas
County’s information repository and in-car
traffic ticketing system has enabled County
officials to automate the entire informationcollecting process, saving hundreds ofhours of cumbersome data entry processing.
Employees are now only required to quickly
verify that ticket information is correct, enabling County officials to reallocate resources
to other divisions where help might be needed.
In addition to streamlining the information
entry process, the ticket notification anddata entry system has also given the County
the ability to proactively address any disconnects between the Clerk’s and Sheriff’soffices. Should an officer or division fail tosubmit their paper-based tickets to theClerk’s office, officials now have the ability
to request missing documentation, thereby closing the loop on a traffic case.
To date, the County has now outfitted two
traffic courts with a completely paperlesssystem, allowing the Clerk’s office to store
paper documents only for backup purposes.
According to Burke, “At first, county judges
were a little hesitant about learning how to
use the new system. However, once weshowed them how easy the system is touse and the amount of information thatcan be presented to them at one time, theyquickly realized how valuable this type oftechnology would be to the courts.”“We willcontinue
to exceed
expectations
by delivering
the systems
needed to more
efficiently serve
our citizens.”
Ken Burke,
Clerk of the Circuit Courtand Comptroller,
Pinellas County, Florida

Finally, the new process management system also supports the County’s goals forthe future. State information-sharing programs will soon be in place and, with theOpenText technology, the County is wellpositioned to meet future state mandates.
The inherent flexibility of the system will
support the County as it continues to growand as other court systems take on theirown paperless initiatives. “Pinellas County
is committed to meeting the needs of its
residents and, through our partnershipwith OpenText, we will continue to exceedexpectations by delivering the systems
needed to more efficiently serve our citizens,” concludes Burke. n

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