New Technology Goes Live in Mobile Municipal Court

Oct 28th, 2015

MOBILE, Ala. - The City of Mobile has fully implemented new computer software in Municipal Court that will improve efficiency, productivity and accuracy at City Hall, Mayor Sandy Stimpson announced today.

The City of Mobile purchased Tyler Technologies software in 2014 to replace a costly, outdated IT system that was more than three decades old. Implementation has been an ongoing process and Municipal Court is one of the first City departments to go live with the new system.

"In years to come, I truly believe that our decision to purchase the Tyler Technology software will be recognized as one of the most significant actions," said Mayor Stimpson. "This is the next step to move the City's outdated Information Technology system into the 21st Century."

The new system makes case files immediately available and complete for arraignments, trials, adjudications and motion hearings. Judges now have global access to all matters pertaining to the cases before them, resulting in more consistent case notes and prompt sentencing orders.

"This new system will allow the Court to be more responsive to the needs of the public and to do so with accountability," said Judges Holmes Whiddon, Presiding Judge of the Mobile Municipal Court. "Now the Court can grow with the city and meet the ever-changing standards of justice."

Court personnel can now run their own reports and maintain the majority of their system rather than waiting for IT to update ordinances or generate reports. All cases are now available in one system instead of three separate systems.

The new system will also significantly improve customer service for citizens interacting with Municipal Court. Court processes can now be handled immediately instead of waiting for days to be processed. This new system also makes case information available online eliminating the need for printed copies of case files.

Municipal Court employees underwent a 5 week training period, while still continuing the operation of the court system. The overall process took 9 months and was finished three months ahead of schedule.

"I want to thank IT Director Sue Farni and her team for shepherding this process and for all of the Court personnel who worked long days and nights to achieve this milestone," said Mayor Stimpson. "Software conversions of this magnitude are tremendously complex and require countless man-hours of hard work by everyone in the organization."

The next department expected to go live with the new system is all of Finance including general ledger, payables, receivables, treasury, budget and purchasing.

"Once implementation has been completed across City government, the City of Mobile will have technological capability second to none," said Mayor Stimpson.