This year, the Justice Management Institute received a strategic initiatives grant from the State Justice Institute to expand the use of online case resolution (OCR) for traffic and misdemeanor cases. With OCR, a person who receives a citation or is charged with a misdemeanor can access a defendant app and contest their case online. The technology enables courts, attorneys, and those charged to work through the discovery stage and plea negotiation without appearing in court. OCR can also be used for post-resolution efforts like entering into a payment plan, collecting payments, and/or providing documentation of completing community service and relevant classes that may be part of the case outcome.

The potential impact of this work is significant. Based on JMI research, there are over 11,500 courts that have jurisdiction for more than 35.5 million traffic and misdemeanor cases per year. In other words, on average, up to 14% of adults living in the United States are likely to interact with a traffic or misdemeanor court every year.  OCR benefits people by providing increased access to the courts, making it easier to navigate the legal system, and enabling courts and attorneys to manage overwhelming caseloads and reduce delays. It also increases accountability to the public and builds a repository of information to promote evaluation, research, and transparency.

The OCR initiative has two primary goals. The first is to map traffic and misdemeanor jurisdictions and supporting technologies in each state. This groundwork will assist the OCR project team to bring the OCR platform into that jurisdiction or state. The second goal is for the OCR project team to work with two pilot courts, Missoula Municipal Court and North Las Vegas Justice Court, to write the requirements and adapt the OCR web-based platform design to their courts. The project is built on a pilot OCR project JMI has done with the Municipal and Traffic Court of New Orleans, with technical support from the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts, which built during the pandemic a traffic case resolution system for NJ municipal courts. Further, JMI has partnered with Kalamuna, an open-source application developer, to assist with the technical aspects of the project.

For more information, visit the OCR Initiative or contact Robin Wosje at robinw@jmijustice.org, or Tim Dibble, Vice President, at timd@jmijustice.org