Members Participating Dale Sandstrom, Chair Becky Absey Lee Ann Barnhardt Sally Holewa Faye McIntyre Joel Medd Daniel Narum Frank Racek Donna Wunderlich
Guests Jim Gienger, Project Manager for UCIS Replacement Project Allan Schmalenberger, Chair of the Operations Oversight Group
Staff Sonja Pigeon, Director of Technology
The chair called the meeting to order. Introduction and Welcome - New Members The new members of the committee were introduced and welcomed. They are: Judge Daniel
Narum, SEJD, and Judge Douglas Mattson, NWJD. Lee Ann Barnhardt, Director of Education and
Communication has been added as an ex officio member. Sonja Pigeon, Director of Technology, is
the new staff to the committee.
Approval of Minutes Minutes from December 7, 2007 and February 1, 2008 were reviewed. Clerical changes were made
to the February 1, 2008 minutes. Donna Wunderlich moved/Judge Medd seconded that the minutes
be approved as amended. Motion carried.
Status Report - Unified Court Information System Replacement Project Judge Schmalenberger notified the committee that the RFP for the UCIS Replacement Project was
released this week. He explained that the Operations Oversight Committee met this morning and
was working on evaluation checklists for the vendor demonstrations, as well as a script for the
vendors.
Jim Gienger reviewed the timeline for the project, especially the steps leading up to the
demonstrations, and the process we will follow to evaluate the products and the vendors. Jim
reported that our Large Project Oversight (LPO) analyst is pleased with our progress.
Status Report - Wireless Technology Pilot Project Sally Holewa reported that the pilot project is in the final stage. At this point, a network
configuration issue has been identified. ITD needs to take action to correct the issue but they have
not given us a firm date for when they will address it. If the project is successful, then the committee
needs to decide if we will expand it and to which sites. Sally suggested that a survey of the bar to
determine which sites they believe would be most beneficial would be appropriate, since the goal
of the project is to provide attorney access to the network.
Judge Medd said that interest in Grand Forks is particularly high. Judge Racek said that he has not
heard of any interest in Fargo.
Technology Plan for 2009 - 2011 Biennium Our Technology Plan for the 2009-2011 biennium needs to be developed and will be brought to the
next meeting of the Court Technology Committee for approval. Sonja discussed the components
of the plan, indicating that document management and e-filing were being rolled up into the larger
UCIS replacement project. IVN and wireless internet are two areas that we expect to continue
expanding in the next biennium. We also need to indicate our plans for integrating with other state
agencies.
Sonja Pigeon explained that many state agencies are experiencing bandwidth issues. They are
documenting the issues and will be proposing a solution to ITD. How ITD responds to those
concerns will have an impact on our technology budget and our ability to effectively deploy a web-based solution.
The possibility of webcasting Supreme Court hearings and educational programs was discussed.
Sonja discussed a product called Tricaster that might be a cost-effective solution for the courts.
Term Expiration/Limit Faye McIntyre's term has expired and she has reached her term limit. Faye has been representing
medium-sized, state-employed clerk of court offices. Sally Holewa's term has expired and she has
reached her term limit. She recommended that the court amend the committee membership to retain
the position of state court administrator as a permanent member of the committee. Chair Sandstrom
deferred the recommendation to the next meeting of the committee.
The next meeting will be on June 27, 2008, at 9:30 a.m., in the Supreme Court Front Conference
Room.