florida courts technology commission...melvin cox craig mclean mike smith jeff taylor technical...

Florida Courts TechnologyCommission Overview

Effective January 6, 2021Prepared by OSCA-OIT Governance Staff

Florida Courts Technology Commission (FCTC)

• The FCTC was established in Rule 2.236 as a standing Supreme Court commission

in 2010. The purpose of the FCTC is to oversee, manage, and direct the

development and use of technology within the judicial branch under the direction of

the Florida Supreme Court.

• One of the key responsibilities of the Commission is to promote public trust and

confidence in the judicial branch by delivering timely, consistent, and useful

information through traditional and innovative communication methods, as well as

utilizing compatible technology infrastructures to improve case management to

meet the needs of the judicial branch and court users.

• The FCTC shall coordinate and review recommendations with regard to all court

policy matters relating to the use of technology in support of the effective

administration of justice.

FCTC (continued)• The subcommittees or workgroups that may be established shall adhere to technology

policies and standards adopted by the Commission, shall regularly report the progress

of their work to the Commission and shall recommend any action that the Commission

should take as the result of their work.

• The Commission shall prepare for each calendar year a report which it will submit to

the Supreme Court by April 1 of the following calendar year.

• The FCTC membership will consists of 25 members and include the following: (2)

district court judges; (5) circuit court judges, including one chief judge; (2) county court

judges; (3) court administrators; (3) court technology officers; (4) clerks of court,

including one appellate court clerk; (4) Florida Bar members, including one Board of

Governors member; and (2) members of the public at large.

FCTC Members

Laird Lile, Florida Bar Board of Governors, Naples

Jon Lin, TCA, 5th Judicial Circuit

Stevan Northcutt, Appellate Judge, 2nd DCA

Terence Perkins, Circuit Judge, 7th Judicial Circuit

Leslie Powell-Boudreaux, Florida Bar, Tallahassee

Karen Rushing, Clerk of Court, Sarasota County

Paul Silverman, TCA, 8th Judicial Circuit

Murray Silverstein, Florida Bar, Tampa

Mike Smith, CTO, 4th Judicial Circuit

Bertila Soto, Chief Circuit Judge, 11th Judicial Circuit

John Stewart, Florida Bar, Vero Beach

Lonn Weissblum, Appellate Clerk of Court, 4th DCA

Robert Adelardi, CTO, 11th Judicial Circuit

Martin Bidwill, Circuit Judge, 17th Judicial Circuit

Ross Bilbrey, Appellate Judge, 1st DCA

Christina Blakeslee, CTO, 13th Judicial Circuit

Hunter Carroll, Circuit Judge, 12th Judicial Circuit

Angel Colonneso, Clerk of Court, Manatee County

Robyn Gable, TCA, 14th Judicial Circuit

Josephine Gagliardi, County Judge, Lee County

Craig Galley, Public Member, Jacksonville

Lynette Gerido, Public Member, Tallahassee

Tara Green, Clerk of Court, Clay County

Robert Hilliard, County Judge, Santa Rosa County

Judge Lisa Taylor Munyon, Circuit Judge, 9th Judicial Circuit (Chair)

Access Governance Board

Judge Robert Hilliard (Chair)

Robert Adelardi

Christina Blakeslee

Clerk Angel Colonneso

Melvin Cox

Craig McLean

Mike Smith

Jeff Taylor

Technical Standards Subcommittee

Mike Smith (Chair)

Christina Blakeslee (Co-Chair)

Robert Adelardi

Noel Chessman

Melvin Cox

Judge Robert Hilliard

Brent Holladay

Sunny Nemade

Judge Terence Perkins

Terry Rodgers

Steve Shaw

Jeff Taylor

Craig Van Brussel

FCTCSubcommittee/WorkgroupMembers

Certification Subcommittee

Judge Terence Perkins (Chair)

Robert Adelardi

Judge Martin Bidwill

Christina Blakeslee

Noel Chessman

Jon Lin

Craig McLean

Mike Smith

CMS Standards Subcommittee

Judge Josephine Gagliardi (Chair)

Judge Paul Alessandroni

Doug Bakke

Judge Hunter Carroll

Noel Chessman

David Isaacson

Sunny Nemade


Clerk Karen Rushing

Paul Silverman

Jean Sperbeck

PJ Stockdale

Judge William Stone

OSCA STAFF: Lakisha Hall, Roosevelt Sawyer, Jr., Alan Neubauer, and Hetal Patel

Portal Subcommittee

Judge Martin Bidwill (Chair)

Robert Adelardi

Christina Blakeslee

Fernando Cabrera

Melvin Cox

Rex Dimmig

Judge Josephine Gagliardi

Laird Lile

Craig McLean

Thomas Morris

Sunny Nemade

Leslie Powell-Boudreaux

Murray Silverstein

Jeff Taylor

Carolyn Weber

Craig Van Brussel

Clerk Lonn Weissblum


FDC Joint Workgroup



Robert Adelardi

Chief Laura Bedard

Doug Bakke

Christina Blakeslee

Melvin Cox

Rex Dimmig

Michael Emmons

Tom Hall

Jill Hamel

Tony Landry

Wendy Ling

Thomas Morris

Shannon Peters

Clerk Karen Rushing

Landon Smith

Clerk John Tomasino

Carolyn Weber

Clerk Lonn Weissblum

Joe Winkler

OSCA STAFF: Jeannine Moore, Roosevelt Sawyer, Jr., Alan Neubauer, and Hetal Patel


Workflow Subgroup


Captain Jose Acosta

Jessica Andrews, FDLE

Veronica Berry

Christina Blakeslee

Bill Cail, FPCA

Melvin Cox

Rex Dimmig, FLPDA

Justin Horan

Tony Landry

Lt. Jenny McCook

Thomas Morris

Shannon Peters, FPAA

Laurie Rice

Carolyn Weber

Lt. Yolanda Williams

Michelle Yodonis

Criminal Case Initiation Workgroup


Doug Bakke

Jamie Benjamin

Christina Blakeslee

Bill Cail, FPCA

Clerk Angel Colonneso

Melvin Cox

Rex Dimmig, FLPDA

Matt Dunagan, FSA

Tim Giesecke, FDLE

Clerk Tara Green

Tony Landry

Shannon Peters, FPAA

Tom Morris

Douglas Smith, Atty General

Jackie Suttle, DJJ

Judge Samantha Ward

Carolyn Weber



Cybersecurity Subcommittee

Robert Adelardi (Chair)

Christina Blakeslee

Kevin Bowen

Chris Corzine

Jeffrey Forsythe

Brian Franza

Craig Galley

Gary Hagan

Richard Haney

Jon Lin

Craig McLean

Emeka Okammor

Terry Rodgers

Al Saikali

Steve Shaw

Paul Silverman

Mike Smith

Craig Van Brussel

Carolyn Weber

Gavin Green (OSCA)

Cyber-Review Subgroup

Robert Adelardi (Chair)

Kevin Bowen

Craig Galley

Craig McLean

Al Saikali

Steve Shaw

Gavin Green (OSCA)


The Portal Subcommittee was established to work with the Florida Court Clerks &

Comptrollers (FCCC) on the development of and modifications to the Portal and serve as a

liaison group between the FCTC and the E-Filing Authority Board.

• In 2010, the Florida Courts Portal was developed and began accepting electronic

filings on January 1, 2011. The Portal is designed to be a delivery method to local

case management systems;

• The E-Filing Authority Board has exclusive jurisdiction over the Portal and the Portal

Subcommittee is an advisory group to the Board regarding Portal enhancements;

• Review revisions, provide input, and endorse recommendations on Portal

modifications from the Portal Change Advisory Board (CAB) for scheduled releases;

and

• Continue to review Portal functionality for uniform progressions.

Portal Subcommittee

The CCIW was established to research an electronic standardized process for criminal

case-initiated filings through the Portal.

• Recommended workgroup participation from stakeholder entities for input on

solutions;FL Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) FL Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL)

FL Attorney General FL Prosecuting Attorneys Association (FPAA)

FL Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) FL Public Defenders Association (FPDA)

FL Sheriffs Association (FSA) FL Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee

• Created the Data Element Subgroup to identify current and necessary uniform

data elements for electronic criminal case-initiated filings;

• Created the Workflow Subgroup to identify current and necessary uniform

workflows for electronic criminal case-initiated filings; and

• Collaborate with FDLE and other stakeholder groups to move project along.

Criminal Case Initiation Workgroup (CCIW)

➢ The Data Element Subgroup tasks consists of:

• Reviewing previous Supreme Court approved criminal data elements, HB 7125,

OBTS, TCATS requirements, and uniform arrest affidavit elements to define a

proposed uniform criminal case initiation data element listing;

• Obtaining input from LEO agencies on the uniform criminal case initiation data

element listing, to create a test environment, and determine any gaps; and

• Collaborating with FDLE on the uniform arrest affidavit initiative.

Criminal Case Initiation Workgroup Overview

➢ The Workflow Subgroup tasks consists of:

• Gathering criminal agency stakeholders to solicit input on next steps in an attempt to

increase the electronic character of data that ultimately leads to a criminal case; and

• Dependent on other initiatives coming to maturity before workgroup can move

forward.

The FDC Joint Workgroup was established to research the use of the Portal to facilitate

communication between the courts and the Department of Corrections.

• Established a proposed warrant process for electronically filing VOP warrants to the

Court;

• Provide input to the Criminal Court Steering Committee on FDC’s digitized Criminal

Punishment Code Scoresheet process;

• Assist FDC with expanding the electronic filing of VOP documents to the Court, and

electronic delivery of prison commitment packets to the reception centers from local

counties;

• Assist FDC with expanding options on a vendor tablet solution to

access/receive/storage of inmate mail for court documents; and

• Continue research for electronic filing through the Portal for FDC staff and inmates;

other states that participate in electronic filing by inmates; electronic storage of case

documents by inmates.

FDC Joint Workgroup

The Cybersecurity Subcommittee was established to recommend minimum security

standards and education training protocols for the judicial branch.

• Created the Cyber-Review Subgroup to review and establish security standards and

build a framework to define and recommend initial minimum security measures that

can be applied statewide;

• Developed a shared database for trial courts to share security incidents and prevention

measures for information sharing;

• Assist the Standards committee in reviewing current technical standards to determine

any modifications on minimum security standards; and

• Created the Cyber-Education and Outreach Subgroup to determine recommendations

on education and training protocols for court users that can be applied statewide.

Cybersecurity Subcommittee

The Access Governance Board was established to develop an access security matrix;

develop a reference guide for high level overview of the access and associated policies;

and develop a web catalog of the security matrix for application developers. The

purpose was to facilitate a uniform statewide approach to providing carefully managed,

secure access to electronic court records.

Access Governance Board

• Updated the Standards for Access to Electronic Court Records which establishes

technical and operational requirements for electronic access to court records by

the public, special user groups, judges, and court and clerk’s office personnel;

• Updated the Access Security Matrix which defines levels of access for specific

user groups based upon applicable court rules, statutes, and administrative

policies, and graphically displays the level of access permitted to specific user

groups;

• Overseeing the Clerks of Court online electronic records access pilot programs;

• Reviewing monthly status reports received from the Clerks of Court to ensure online

electronic records access is working in a secure manner in accordance with the

Standards for Access to Electronic Court Records and the Access Security Matrix; and

• Created an Agency Supplemental Request Form.

Access Governance Board Overview

The CMS Functional Standards Subcommittee was established to develop functional

standards for clerks’ Case Maintenance Systems (CMS) to assure that such system

meet the needs of the judiciary and OSCA for the clerk’s court-related functions, the

Florida Bar, and other partners.

CMS Functional Standards Subcommittee

• Reviewing standards from the National Center for State Courts and will tailor

those standards to the work that is done in Florida.

The Certification subcommittee was established to view demonstrations and certify vendors

in compliance with the Functional Requirements for Court Application Processing System

(CAPS). Any system implemented must adhere to the functional requirements and vendors

must be certified to sell their product to any county in Florida. There are two types of

Certification:

Certification Subcommittee

• Full Certification is when a vendor has fully complied with all of the CAPS standards

and the current version of the Florida Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access

to the Courts.

▪ Mentis Technologies, Pioneer Technology Group, the Eighth, Thirteenth,

Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Judicial Circuits are fully certified.

• Provisional Certification is when a vendor ’s system meets only a part of the CAPS

standards and the current version of the Florida Supreme Court Standards for

Electronic Access to the Courts. Provisional certification is for six months and may

be renewed at the discretion of the FCTC.

• Published version 5.0 of the Functional Requirements for Court Application

Processing System.

• Recertified two CAPS solutions

▪ Integrated Case Management Solution (ICMS) – Developed by the

Eighth Judicial Circuit; and

▪ Judicial Viewer System (JVS) – Developed by the Fifteenth Judicial

Circuit

Certification Subcommittee Overview

The FCTC/RJA Joint Workgroup was established to review technology standards and

rule sets to identify technology standards that apply to the practice of law and overlap

with rules of court.

FCTC/RJA Joint Workgroup

• Assisted members of the Florida Bar Rules of Judicial Administration

Committee Subcommittee B in the Joint-Out-of-Cycle Report of the Rules

of Judicial Administration and Criminal Procedure Rules of Committees.

The Technical Standards subcommittee was established to update technical standard

documents related to court technology.

Technical Standards Subcommittee

• Updated the Statewide Standards for Electronic Access to the Courts (e-filingstandards); and

• Consolidated the technology standards into one document.

Standards for Electronic Access to the Courts; Standards for Access toElectronic Court Records; Functional Requirements for Court ApplicationProcessing Systems; Integration and Interoperability Standards; DataExchange Standards; Case Maintenance System Standards; andNotification by Clerk of System Modification.

• Rule 2.236 – Florida Courts Technology Commission (FCTC)

• Rule 2.420 – Public Access to and Protection of Judicial Branch Records

• Rule 2.425 – Minimization of the Filing of Sensitive Information

• Rule 2.515 – Signature and Certificates of Attorneys and Parties

• Rule 2.516 – Service of Pleadings and Documents

• Rule 2.520 – Documents

• Rule 2.525 – Electronic Filing

• Rule 3.030 – Service of Pleadings and Papers

Applicable Rules