Pandemic makes court technology a priority

During the Covid-19 outbreak, Ozaukee County court proceedings have become ever more reliant on an “antiquated” video-conferencing system that frequently fails and is ripe to be upgraded, officials said last week.

“The current video conferencing technology equipment installed at the Justice Center courtrooms are antiquated and are failing at an alarming rate,” Ozaukee County Clerk of Courts Mary Lou Mueller told supervisors in a memo to the Public Safety Committee last week.

“These failures interrupt the rights of defendants, litigants and the public access to the court,” she wrote.

The system had been scheduled to be improved this year as a capital project under the county’s 2020 budget. But it was scrapped along with other projects as officials waited to see what fiscal impact the virus would have on county coffers.

Mueller said clerks have to call in technicians on an almost daily basis to resolve an issue involving the system, which has come under heavier use as fewer in-person hearings are held.

“Problem solving of these issues causes delays,” she wrote.

The alternative to video-conferencing would be to transport inmates and others to the courtroom, which would drastically increase costs, she said.

With as many as 1,000 such cases a year, the savings over a six-year period would exceed $1 million, Mueller told supervisors.

County Administrator Jason Dzwinel told supervisors the courtroom upgrade was slated to cost about $400,000 and suggested that it be included in a list of other projects to be restored.

“There are a handful of projects that are at a critical stage and this is one of those,” Dzwinel said. “This is something that really needs to be done and probably should have been done pre-pandemic.”

Dzwinel added that it’s possible the county might be reimbursed for the cost of the upgrade with state and federal funds allocated to cover local costs related to Covid-19.

The proposal, along with other projects, will go to the county Executive Committee possibly on Aug. 31, which will make a recommendation to the County Board.