Clerk's office heads to Vegas

BRADENTON —The paperless courtroom system at the Manatee County Clerk's office will be in the spotlight later this year at the National Center for State Courts' e-Courts 2012 International Conference.

Three local officials, including 12th Circuit Court Chief Judge Lee Haworth and Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court R.B. “Chips” Shore, were asked to open the conference, in Las Vegas. Haworth's speech, “The Electronic Bench,” will highlight the Manatee County model, according to a release. Shore and Carole Pettijohn, the IT director for the clerk's office, will then present “The E-Courts Return on Investment,” which will show the cost and time savings at paperless courts, the release states.

The conference is scheduled for Dec. 10. “Our judiciary needs to quickly adapt to the new technologies that enable judges to be more efficient, cost effective, and helpful to the people we serve,” Haworth says in the release. “Chips' Manatee model is designed to our specifications. It has enabled us to meet or exceed the functionalities of the traditional paper environment and improve the quality of our work product. This innovative application puts us at the forefront of the revolution that is changing how courts conduct the people's business.”

The model is based on artificial intelligence software developed by Mentis Technology Solutions, according to the clerk's office. It's an application that doesn't replace any current system, but adds more options.

“We all recognize the tremendous volume of work that our judges and our courts face,” Shore says in the statement. “The goal of this year's e-Courts conference is to deliver real world solutions to the pressing technology problems facing courts. The Manatee model is already a reality that has been tested and proven.”