COURT TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

        CHARLESTON, W.Va-- The Supreme Court is planning for the future by forming the West Virginia Court Technology Committee and sponsoring a Court Technology Summit Saturday, June 5 in Charleston, Chief Justice Larry V. Starcher announced. The Committee's goal is to implement the technology-related recommendations of the December 1, 1998, report of the Commission on the Future of the West Virginia Judiciary.

        The summit will bring together the Supreme Court, circuit judges, court clerks, a county assessor, prosecutors, public defenders, private attorneys, and representatives from the Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, the South Central Regional Jail, the Division of Corrections, the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, the Division of Juvenile Services, West Virginia Legal Services, and the West Virginia University College of Law. Representatives from Bell Atlantic-West Virginia also will be participating.

        All representatives share the goal of bringing the West Virginia court system into the 21st century. The Committee is comprised of 23 members and Supreme Court justices and staff. Chief Cabell County Circuit Judge Dan P. O'Hanlon is the Committee's Chair.

        “Court technology is a matter we cannot ignore, otherwise we will be passed by. Fortunately, we are a small state, and we have a lot of capable, interested people who are eager to make us a national leader in the field of court technology,” Chief Justice Starcher said.

        The Committee will form a plan of action to address such matters as the management of video-conferencing technology, statewide court Intranet and Internet access, and public access to court proceedings, dockets and other information and data.

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