Posted: Friday, March 15, 2013

The Minnesota Judicial Branch continued its ambitious work re-engineering efforts in 2012, including the expansion of electronic case filing (eFiling) to six additional counties as part of the move to electronic case records. This is just one of the highlights included in the 2012 Judicial Branch Annual Report to the Community. The full report can be found on the Judicial Branch Website at www.mncourts.gov/publications.

The multi-year eCourtMN initiative calls for all case types to be eFiled, justice system partners and other external constituents to have secure access to electronic records, court processes to be streamlined, and judges and court staff to rely on electronic records.

Other highlights of the report include:

• Expanded sharing of case information with justice system partners - By the end of 2012, the Judicial Branch was generating 1.4 million data exchanges per month with government agencies.
• Initiation of work on a new system for timely sharing of court-issued orders for protection with law enforcement agencies.
• Improved collections - An effort to centralize and automate much of the work of collecting overdue fines and fees.  The changes resulted in the collection of more than $20 million in overdue debt in 2012, a 200 percent increase since 2009.
• Improved conservator oversight - A nation-leading effort to improve oversight of conservator accounts, including the creation of a centralized auditing unit to assist courts in their oversight of over $625 million of assets under court jurisdiction.
• Continued expansion of services to self-represented litigants – Assistance is available through walk-in support centers, eMail and phone support services, and a virtual Self-Help Center on the Judicial Branch Website.

“I am proud of the work our judges and employees did in 2012 to develop more effective ways to fulfill our mission of providing timely justice to the people of Minnesota,” said Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea.