Arkansas Court Automation Programs (ACAP) provides technological support to the state’s courts, makes court information available to the public, and develops online, court-related services.
In 2009 Governor Beebe signed into law the Court Technology Improvement Act of 2009 (Act 328), which funds technology in the courts.
In 2001, the Arkansas Supreme Court created the Arkansas Court Automation Project to carry out these responsibilities and appointed the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Automation to oversee the project. Since that time a comprehensive system has been bid and purchased, redesigned for maximum use in Arkansas courts, and implemented in a number of pilot courts in the state. The system is now completed and scheduled for distribution and use by all of the courts in the state.
In 2002, the Supreme Court sponsored a statewide effort to bring jury and case management to all Arkansas courts. The program began as a pilot project in circuit and district courts to determine the feasibility and suitability of providing uniform case and jury management solutions in a non-uniform judicial system. In addition, the AOC provides and supports other applications such as eFlex (electronic filing), CourtConnect (public access to court records), eTraffic (online payment of traffic tickets), and iMIS (attorney record management).
The CIS Division is responsible for acquiring, developing, enhancing, implementing, and supporting court technologies for the State’s courts. The Division is responsible for desktop and network support for the appellate courts and agencies in the Justice Building as well as remote sites for staff of the AOC, Office of Professional Conduct, Office of Professional Programs, and Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program. The Division provides applications for case management, jury management, attorney management, electronic filing, online public access, online payment, online jury interaction, and the Judiciary Website. In addition to the applications, CIS has worked with several agencies to develop data sharing interfaces with other agency systems. CIS maintains the infrastructure and security to support the systems and services provided, and the Division provides training, education, and help desk support for the thousands of users of the court management systems. The Division provides project management expertise to the Division and AOC to ensure successful delivery of technology projects. The Division hosts an annual ACAP Systems Conference for the customers who use the AOC-provided systems. Beginning in 2022, the CIS Division is discontinuing the roll out case and jury management applications to courts around the state in order to focus on modernizing the systems upon which the courts, justice agencies, and law enforcement rely. The AOC has an extraordinary opportunity to build a best-of-breed court management solution, and by narrowly focusing our strategy, we expect to be able to delight our customers.
The AOC is currently developing a new court management system that will consolidate and replace our existing disparate systems. Over the next three years, the AOC will be leveraging multiple vendors and modern agile methodologies to develop a landmark court management system based on the principles of continuous improvement. As Arkansas courts grow and change, this new system can grow and change to better serve the people of Arkansas.