voucher information processing system (vips) · if you have any problems, comments, questions, or...

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➢ Voucher Information Processing System (ViPS)

The Voucher Information Processing System is a Harris County application designed to automate and replace

the current paper Vouchers that are used in our Criminal, Juvenile Delinquency and Family Courts. The

application provides an all-electronic process for submitting and processing vouchers.

ViPS is accessed via the Internet. The browsers currently supported are Internet Explorer version 11 and

Google Chrome. Please be aware that application functionality has not been confirmed using other browsers.

ViPS has been designed to be used primarily on a workstation or laptop. However, we have developed the

application using technology that gives the application the ability to automatically adjust the display when it is

used on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. These automatic adjustments are meant to improve

the user experience on these devices. We are not yet finished with fine tuning these adjustments. If users have

the opportunity to use ViPS on these devices, we encourage them to do so and provide feedback on their

experience.

mailto:[email protected]


Table of Contents ➢ Voucher Information Processing System (ViPS) ............................................................................................ 1

➢ Family Cases High-Level Workflow ................................................................................................................ 4

➢ Requesting ViPS Access .................................................................................................................................. 5

➢ Signing In ......................................................................................................................................................... 5

➢ ViPS Main Menu ............................................................................................................................................. 7

o Location in workflow: .................................................................................................................................. 7

➢ My Family Cases Page .................................................................................................................................... 9

o Location in workflow: .................................................................................................................................. 9

o Search for Case .......................................................................................................................................... 10

• By Party Name ....................................................................................................................................... 10

• By Case # ............................................................................................................................................... 10

• By Court # .............................................................................................................................................. 10

• By Date Range ....................................................................................................................................... 10

o Add Representing Party(s) ........................................................................................................................ 11

o Select the Court/Voucher Type ................................................................................................................. 13

➢ Add Settings .................................................................................................................................................. 14

o Location in workflow: ................................................................................................................................ 14

➢ Generate Voucher ........................................................................................................................................ 17


➢ Activity Log ................................................................................................................................................... 20


➢ Voucher Messages ........................................................................................................................................ 24


➢ Preview ......................................................................................................................................................... 26


➢ Submit Voucher ............................................................................................................................................ 28


➢ Certification .................................................................................................................................................. 30




➢ My Vouchers ................................................................................................................................................. 34


o Search/Filter Vouchers by Status and/or Date Range............................................................................... 36

o Edit or Delete Draft Voucher Information................................................................................................. 37

o Recall Voucher from Submitted Status ..................................................................................................... 38

o View Paid Vouchers ................................................................................................................................... 38

➢ Other Helpful Information ........................................................................................................................... 39



➢ Family Cases High-Level Workflow

Figure 1: Voucher Workflow

Click on Any box to be navigated to that part of the application

Voucher Messages

Generate Voucher

Add Settings

ViPS Main Menu

Activity Log

Preview

Allows user to Preview,

Print/Save Voucher and

Exhibits Voucher Exhibits

My Family Cases PageAdd Settings

My Vouchers

Attached documents

Companion Cases

Save Submit Pre-Certification

Certification



➢ Requesting ViPS Access ➢ Access to ViPS is part of the Attorney Onboarding process for all Court divisions.

➢ If there are problems, Attorneys are asked to first contact the Central Appointment Coordinator at

[email protected].

➢ Signing In Two ways to Access ViPS.

• Through Attorney Portal, at: https://attyportal.harriscountytx.gov, Select ‘Apps’

• At: aty.harriscountytx.gov/ViPS (do not include www).

This will navigate the user to the Authentication Portal where they can log in to the application.

Figure 2: ViPS Login Page

Authentication Method: set to “BAR”

Username: Enter Bar Number (all 8 digits including any leading zeros)

Password: Enter Password

Click on the Authenticate button to log in to the application. The first page displayed will be the ViPS Main

Menu.



https://attyportal.harriscountytx.gov/

http://aty.harriscountytx.gov/ViPS


Password Requirements - Per Harris County ITC Information Security:

• Password must be between 6-15 characters.

o Contain 1 Uppercase character

o Contain at least 1 number

o Contain at least 1 of the following special characters: !, *, +, &, @, #, $, %

• Password cannot be any of the 10 previously used passwords.

• Password must be changed every 90 days

o Upon login, application will display a message notifying user to change password.

• Email verification every 90 days

o Upon login, 90 Day Verification screen is displayed.

Figure 3: 90 Day Email Verification Screens

Select will display Change Email Address screen



➢ ViPS Main Menu

o Location in workflow:

ViPS Main Menu

My Family Cases My Vouchers

Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save

Submit Pre Certification

Voucher Exhibits

Submit Certification

The ViPS Main Menu provides access to the different functional areas of the application.

• My Appointed Cases is used to create Criminal Individual Case Appointment vouchers.

• My Term Assignments is used to create Term Assignment Vouchers.

• My Juvenile Cases is used to create Vouchers for Juvenile Delinquency courts.

• My Family Cases is used to create Family Court Vouchers.

• My Vouchers is used to track draft and submitted Vouchers.

Only tiles that a user has access to will appear in the ViPS Main menu screen.

Back to Workflow



Figure 4: ViPS Main Menu

Navigating ViPS Main Menu page:

can be selected from any page in the application to navigate back to ViPS main Menu.

can be selected from any page to Logout.

can be selected to Change Password or Logout.



➢ My Family Cases Page


ViPS Main Menu


Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


The My Family Cases page provides a listing of cases that may be pending a voucher for the logged in

attorney. By default, the first Case in the list is expanded to show additional details.

Figure 5: My Family Cases

Back to Workflow



To find a case, use the search functionality or scroll through the list of assigned cases to begin or continue

the voucher submittal process. Once record is located, clicking anywhere on the blue header of the case

expands the record.

o Search for Case

At the top of the page, users can search by:

• By Party Name

▪ LastName, FirstName format

• By Case #

▪ Case # must be 9,10 or 11 characters

▪ If Case # is followed by a ‘J’, entering the ‘J’ is optional for a successful search.

• By Court #

▪ (Dropdown list – single select)

• By Date Range

▪ Only Active if Court # selected

▪ Date Range cannot exceed a 90-day range

The application allows attorney to begin a voucher process and return later to finish entering the data

before submitting it for approval. Once a voucher is started, it is in ‘Draft’ status. While a voucher is in

Draft status, the assigned attorney can change and add data to the voucher. Once submitted, the voucher

status is changed to ‘Submitted’ and may no longer be changed by the attorney.

If a case is attached to a voucher that is in Draft status, the assigned attorney cannot start a new voucher

for the same case. The existing voucher must be completed and submitted. Once submitted, a new

voucher can be created for that case.

Note: Once a case is selected and expanded, Representing Party(s) and Court/Voucher Type are required

to continue.



o Add Representing Party(s) Figure 6: Expanded Case

a. Select the icon at the bottom of the Representing Party(s) box. A popup screen will

be displayed:

Figure 7: Add Party(s) to Voucher Popup

b. Three ways to add Representing Party(s):

1. Add Representing Party(s) from ‘Choose Party(s) box.

2. Add Representing Party(s) manually.

3. Enter Representing Party(s) from 1 and 2 above.

c. Ensure all Representing Party(s) are listed in the Representing Party(s) box.

d. Select

i. Add Party(s) to Voucher Popup will close.

ii. Screen will return to expanded screen of the Case Number

iii. Representing Party(s) box will be populated with the selected Party(s)



Figure 8: Three ways to add Representing Party(s)

1. Add Representing Party(s) from ‘Choose Party(s)’ box

a. Select Representing Party from the list in Choose Party(s) box.

b. Click Add button c. Selected Party(s) should now be

listed in Representing Party(s) box.

2. Add Representing Party(s) manually a. Click inside the Representing

Party(s) box. b. Type in a Representing Party Last

Name, First Name.

3. Add Representing Party(s) from 1 and 2 above.

a. Repeat 1 and 2 until all Representing Party(s) are listed in Representing Party(s) box.

1. Add from Choose Party(s) box

2. Add Manually

3. Add from list and manually

e. Ensure all Representing Party(s) are listed in the Representing Party(s) box.

f. Select

i. Add Party(s) to Voucher Popup will close.

ii. Screen will return to expanded screen of the Case Number

iii. Representing Party(s) box will be populated with the selected Representing

Party(s)



o Select the Court/Voucher Type From the dropdown list, select the Court/Voucher Type

Figure 9: Selecting Court/Voucher Type

After selecting or entering all Representing Party(s) and selecting the proper Court/Voucher Type, clicking

on the button at the bottom of the page will make Representing Party(s) and Court/Voucher

Type fields no longer editable and will navigate user to Select Settings page.

Cases that have at least a Representing Party and Court/Voucher Type will have a on the left side of

the screen when the case is expanded. Click to continue editing the voucher.

These Cases are listed in My Family Cases and in My Vouchers. Once submitted, the voucher will no longer

be accessible through the My Family Cases page but will remain accessible in My Vouchers.

Figure 10: My Family Cases showing a Case already started



Figure 11: My Vouchers page showing same Case as in Figure 9

➢ Add Settings


ViPS Main Menu


Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


After clicking on button on My Family Cases page, the application will navigate to the Select

Setting Dates page.

On this page, as well as all subsequent pages clicking on will navigate back to the My Family Cases

page.

Representing Party(s), Case #, Court and Voucher Type will be displayed.

Back to Workflow



Figure 12: Select Settings Page

To add Settings, click on the icon located under the Representing Party(s).

A popup screen will be displayed to allow user to add Settings.

Figure 13: Add Settings popup (1)

1. Enter a valid Setting Date for this case

a. The Setting Reason will auto-populate.

2. Select an event for this Setting from the dropdown menu.

Figure 14: Add Settings popup (2)



3. Notice: For this voucher, all Setting are paid by day. Therefore, the Duration fields are disabled.

4. Continue adding Settings until complete.

5. All records created will be displayed in descending date order.

6. If a correction is needed, delete the line item record by clicking on the red trash can and recreate a

new setting.

Figure 15: Select Settings page - Completed

7. Once all settings have been entered, click on the button at the bottom right-hand

side of the page. This will navigate to the Generate Voucher page, the next page in the process

flow.



➢ Generate Voucher


ViPS Main Menu


Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


Once all Settings have been entered, click the button on the Select Settings page to navigate

to the Generate Voucher page.

The Generate Voucher page functions as a summary page for voucher entries.

The main display table on the page lists all the defined line items for a voucher.

Line items in gray indicate items that must be entered/updated on a different page in the process flow.

The line items in white background can be entered/updated on this page.

Settings entered on the Select Settings page are summarized here showing the total number of days for

each setting event as well as the date(s) that they occurred. If an update to the information on these

items is required, click on the button to navigate back to the Select Setting Dates page.

Back to Workflow



Figure 16: Generate Voucher Page

Navigating the Generate Voucher page:

• Clicking will navigate back to Select Settings page.

o Clicking will allow users to go back to adding or deleting Settings for this voucher.

o Please refer to Select Settings portion of this document for further information

• Other line items that appear in gray are Out of Court Hours and can be entered/updated via the

Activity Log page.

o Clicking button at the bottom left hand side of the page will navigate to the Activity

Log page. Here, users can add all their Out of Court Activity Hours.

o Please refer to Activity Log portion of this document for further information.



• Clicking Allows comments to be entered regarding this voucher.

o Please refer to Voucher Messages portion of this document for further information.

• Some line items require supporting information (invoices, receipts, etc.) to be included with and

attached to the voucher.

o This can be done by utilizing the table in the upper right-hand side of

this page. The green button with the white plus sign is used to upload and attach documents to

the voucher.

o Note: Attachments need to be in PDF file format and cannot have the same name as other

uploaded PDF files for this voucher.

o Attached documents will be listed in the table with the same name as the original file.

o Following the document name will be a red trash can icon, .

o To remove attachment from voucher, click on the icon. User will be asked to confirm that

they want to delete the document.

o To review the attachment, click on the document name.

• Selecting in allows users to add Companion Cases to this voucher.

o Note: Users should ONLY add Companion Cases they are appointed to.

o When saved, Companion Cases will be listed under with a icon to

the right.

o To Delete a Companion Case – click .

• The button at the bottom of the page will save $ fee entries on the current voucher in ViPS

and provide the ability to return later to finish working on the voucher.

• Clicking on the button in the lower right-hand corner of the page will navigate to the

Pre-Certification page. This is done when a voucher is ready to be submitted.

o Please refer to Submit Voucher portion of this document for further information

• Expense Items in white can be entered and updated on this page by entering the total dollar amount

for these expenses.



➢ Activity Log


ViPS Main Menu


Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


button is located at the bottom of the Generate Voucher page.

Out of Court Hours and information are added here.

Figure 17: Activity Log Page

Back to Workflow



To add an Activity, click the button with the white plus sign to add an entry to the Activity Log.

A window will pop up over the main page that allows entry of an activity.

Date will be pre-populated with current date.

Figure 18: Activity Log popup - Selecting Activity

To change date, click to open a calendar that allows date entry.

Once the Activity is selected, the popup window expands to include additional data entry fields, Case

Number and Duration (HH:mm). Case Number will auto-populate.

To enter duration, click on the icon at the right of the Duration field to allow time entry.

Select from the left dial for hours and right dial for minutes. The application allows minutes to be entered

in increments of 6 minutes (a tenth of an hour).

A description may be required for some of the Out of Court Activities.



Figure 19: Activity Log popup - Entering Time

Click button in the lower right-hand corner of the window.

The application will save this entry, close the popup and return to the Activity Log page.

The recently added activity will be listed in the Activities Log page.

User can add as many Activities needed for this voucher.

To edit an Activity – Click

To delete an Activity – Click

Figure 20: Activity Log with Entries

Once Activities are entered, click button in the lower left-hand corner of the page to

return to the Generate Voucher page.

On the Generate Voucher page, the application will accumulate the total amount of time of all activities

and will display it as a total number of hours down to one decimal point.

Returning to the Generate Voucher page, data entered from the Activity Log is now displayed in the

appropriate line item on the voucher.



Figure 21: Generate Voucher showing Out of Court Activity Hours



➢ Voucher Messages


ViPS Main Menu


Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


Located at bottom of Generate Voucher page.

Selecting navigates user to ether Voucher Messages.

Request to Exceed maximum –

• Required when a total for a line item exceeds the maximum allowed.

• Information entered here is viewed by Judge that will be reviewing and approving the

voucher.

• Only one entry allowed per voucher. Click to add message to this section.

Details of Settings –

• Required on all Family Vouchers that contain a Setting.

• Information entered here is viewed by Judge that will be reviewing and approving the

voucher.

• Only one entry allowed per voucher. Click to add message to this section.

Comments –

• Allows comments to be entered regarding this voucher.

• Clerks that initially receive voucher submissions will review these comments.

Back to Workflow



• Multiple entries allowed. Click to add message to this section.

To Edit a voucher message – click on

To Delete a voucher message – click on

Figure 22: Voucher Messages



➢ Preview Allows user to Preview, Print/Save Voucher and Exhibits


ViPS Main Menu


Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


From Generate Voucher page, click Preview button at bottom of the page.

Application will display a list to select from, Voucher or Exhibits

Figure 23: Preview Voucher or Exhibits Page

Back to Workflow



Selecting Voucher will generate a .PDF file of what the voucher will look like when submitted.

Selecting Exhibits will generate a .PDF file of Settings, Out of Court Activities, Messages, Companion Cases

followed by all uploaded attachments.

Based on browser settings, when the .PDF file is generated, the file will auto-open or the user may need to

select between saving, opening or cancelling the file.

To return to Generate Voucher page, click Select Return to navigate to Generate Voucher page.

Back to Workflow



➢ Submit Voucher

o Location in workflow: ViPS Main Menu


Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


Review the Generate Voucher page. If all information is correct, proceed to submit voucher by clicking

, located in the lower right-hand corner of the Generate Voucher page.

If a Companion Case is not added to the voucher being submitted, a popup will be displayed, asking user to

confirm:

Figure 24: Pre-Certification - No Companion Cases

Selecting will close the popup and display the Pre-Certification Page.

Selecting will close the popup and navigate back to Generate Voucher Page.

This popup will not display if a Companion Case is added to the voucher. The application will display the

Pre-Certification page.

Back to Workflow



Figure 25: Pre-Certification Page

Clicking will navigate back to the Generate Voucher page.

Clicking on will navigate to the Certification page.



➢ Certification



Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


Clicking from the precertification page will navigate user to the Certification page.

The certification page is the last step in the process to submit a Family Voucher.

Back to Workflow



Before submitting, a selection must be made where attorney states whether they represented a child or

not.

Figure 26: Certification Page

The application will place the attorney name and bar number on the signature line of this page. This will

be considered an electronic signature for use on the Voucher.

Clicking to return to the Pre-Certification page.

Clicking will electronically submit voucher to the District Clerks office for filing.

App will navigate back to the My Family Cases page.



Figure 27: Example of a Family Voucher:



Figure 28: Example of Voucher Exhibits



➢ My Vouchers



Add Settings

Generate Voucher

Activity Log

Voucher Messages

Companion Cases

Attached Documents

Preview

Save


Voucher Exhibits


The My Vouchers page provides a listing of cases that are assigned to an attorney, with statuses of

Draft through Paid, ordered by Status. Within each Status, vouchers are listed oldest to newest.

• Draft (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• Submitted (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• Filed (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• ReturnedForCorrection (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• Approved (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• ApprovedWithModifications (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• Rejected (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• Posted (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• ReturnedFromAuditor (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

• Paid (Oldest at the top, Newest at the bottom)

This allows user to track the status of their submitted vouchers all the way through Paid.

Back to Workflow



Navigating My Vouchers page:

The top of My Vouchers page will show the number of vouchers in the user’s queue.

Figure 29: My Vouchers Page

My Vouchers Page allows users to

1. Search/Filter Vouchers by Status and/or Date Range

2. edit or delete draft vouchers information

3. recall submitted vouchers

4. View voucher messages

5. View Submitted and Filed Vouchers, Exhibits and Attachments



o Search/Filter Vouchers by Status and/or Date Range Search filters are located at the top of the My Vouchers Page

Figure 30: My Vouchers Search Parameters

• By Default, Status will show ‘Please Select Status’ and Date Range will show a one-year range, with

‘Status Date To’ being current date.

• Selecting a Status is not required

• Selecting a date range is required.

o ‘From Date’:

▪ Must be less than or equal to current date and

▪ Be less than or equal to ‘To Date’

o ‘To Date’:

▪ Must be less than or equal to current date

• To Search:

o Select Status (or no selection)

o Select Date Range

o Click

o A message will be displayed above the search criteria counting how many records are

found with the given search criteria.

o If a record is found, it will also be listed.



o

Figure 31: My Vouchers – Search Returning no Matching Vouchers

Figure 32: My Vouchers - Search Returning Matching Vouchers

o Edit or Delete Draft Voucher Information

Vouchers with on the left indicate the voucher is still in draft status. Once submitted, the voucher

can no longer be edited, unless the voucher is recalled.

• To Edit a voucher, click next to the voucher number

• To Delete Voucher information. Click . All work done on this voucher will be deleted.

o This allows user to restart a voucher.

o Voucher will now be visible in My Family Cases.



o Recall Voucher from Submitted Status As referenced above, a voucher in submitted status can no longer be edited. However, if a voucher

has been submitted and not yet approved, a icon to the left of the voucher number will indicate

that the voucher can be recalled by the person that submitted the voucher.

To Recall a Voucher and change the voucher status from Submitted to Draft:

• Click on Recall icon next to the voucher being recalled.

• A popup will be displayed asking of user is sure they want to change the status of the voucher

back to Draft.

Figure 33: Voucher Recall popup

• If User Clicks , popup will close and Voucher will be changed to Draft Status.

• If User Click , popup will close and Voucher status will remain Submitted.

o View Paid Vouchers

o Click on ,located at the

footer of My Vouchers Page.

o This will the Harris County Auditor’s Office webpage in a second window.

o https://auditor.harriscountytx.gov/Pages/VendorPaymentSearch.aspx

▪ In this page, users can perform a search for any paid voucher.


https://auditor.harriscountytx.gov/Pages/VendorPaymentSearch.aspx


➢ Other Helpful Information

• After 20 minutes of inactivity, the application will automatically log user out.

• When attempting to navigate away from a data entry page without first saving changes, the

application will prompt the user that continuing without saving will lose any data entered on this

screen. User will have the option to continue with the navigation and lose unsaved changes or

return to page to save changes.

Table 1: Legend - Application Icons

Navigates to ViPS main Menu.

Allows user to Logout.

Down arrow next to allows user to Change Password or Logout.

Navigates user to next screen in voucher submission process.

or

Navigates user to previous screen in voucher submission process.

Allows adding of records or documents to the section the icon is attached to.

or

Allows a voucher/record to be edited.

Recall Voucher from Submitted Status Cancels Submission and returns Voucher to Draft status

Indicates that a Message is attached to the Voucher. Clicking on the icon will display the Voucher Message(s)



Table 2: Status Legend

Draft A Voucher has been initiated but not submitted.

SubmitInProcess A Voucher has been completed and Submitted to the Clerk for processing; however, system issues may have prevented the Voucher from proceeding to review. This will identify the voucher and attempt to re-submit the voucher.

Submitted A Voucher has been completed and Submitted to the Clerk for review.

ReturnedForCorrection A Voucher has been Returned by the Clerk. The Voucher requires correction before it can be Filed with the Court. A reason for the Return will be provided by the Clerk.

Filed A Voucher has been Filed with the Court by the Clerk and ready for the Judge to review.

Rejected A Voucher has been Rejected by the Judge. A reason for the Rejection will be provided by the Judge.

Approved A Voucher has been Approved and Signed by the Judge. The Voucher is ready for the Auditor to review.

ReturnedFromAuditor A Voucher has been Returned from the Auditor. The Voucher requires correction before it can be Posted for payment. A Reason for the Return will be provided by Auditing.

Posted A Voucher has been Posted/Approved for payment by the Auditor.

Paid Voucher payment has been processed to Vendor.
