| Members Present Judge Allan Schmalenberger, Chair Justice Dale Sandstrom Judge Joel Medd Keithe Nelson Ted Gladden Penny Miller | Members Absent Judge Lawrence Leclerc Judge Benny Graff Judge Burt Riskedahl Becky Absey Ray Gedeon |
Staff
Kurt T. Schmidt
Judge Schmalenberger called the meeting to order.
IT WAS MOVED AND SECONDED THAT THE MINUTES FROM THE 3/13/98 CTC MEETING BE APPROVED. THE MOTION PASSED.
Information Technology Plan
The projects associated with the Information Technology Plan and their associated priorities were briefly discussed. It was concluded that the priorities previously assigned should be adhered to.
Search Group Update
Kurt Schmidt provided an update regarding the pending visit by Search Group personnel. It was stated that they were coming in to discuss possible integration of systems, databases and future technologies. Concerns were raised about the number of separate systems being supported and that integrating some of the systems could simplify support.
Expansion of UCIS to include municipalities and additional counties was discussed. Ted and Kurt were concerned that the current staffing levels will not allow for adequate support if large numbers of users are added. Concerns were also raised about the versions of UCIS being used by municipalities and the fact that they may be several releases behind the current release being used by the district courts. There was discussion about charging a nominal fee for installation of new versions on municipality AS400s and adding a municipality representative to the UCIS committee.
It was also stated that an analysis needs to be done to address adding additional counties next biennium and what types of support will be needed.
IT WAS MOVED BY KEITHE NELSON AND SECONDED BY TED GLADDEN TO EXTEND THE NUMBER OF COUNTIES USING UCIS TO 30. THE MOTION PASSED.
Juvenile Management System Update
Testing of the new Juvenile Software is to be done 8/12/98 through 9/12/98 in Bismarck. Training will be done prior to the testing. After testing is complete, any problems will be known and can be addressed at that time. Currently known problems include the lack of available reports and the lack of a statewide database. Concerns were raised about supporting the new system and future development efforts. Currently, there is no information technology staff with knowledge of the programming language used to develop the juvenile system and inadequate staff to support statewide deployment of the system.
Technology Issues Assuming State Assumption of Clerks of District Court
Budget preparations have been underway to plan for support of the information systems in the event that the State assumes the Clerks of District Court. Tentative plans include the purchase and installation of numerous computers and printers to phase out obsolete machinery.
Support needs would most likely increase for such things as network support, hardware support and operating system support. UCIS support would also increase, but since many of the clerks currently use and are supported on UCIS, the impact would not be as drastic.
The current plan for assumption of Clerks of District Court includes funding for one additional information technology staff person to offset the increased support requirements.
Access to UCIS by State's Attorneys
Several State's Attorneys have requested access to UCIS beyond 'public' terminal access. Additionally, several municipalities have requested access to UCIS at or beyond the level granted with the public terminal. Kurt felt that with the recent requests it was appropriate expand security beyond the current two levels. His suggestion was to include some access levels that are between the "update everything" capabilities that the clerks have and the "limited-inquire-only" access that a public terminal provides. To accomplish this a draft policy was reviewed that provides for three levels: Public; State's Attorney and Clerk. It was recommended that:
A level between Public and State's Attorney be added for Law Enforcement.
The levels should be referred to in some way other than by their primary user group.
The UCIS access policy should be reviewed in conjunction with the draft policy 215 Data Access and Dissemination for possible consolidation.
Corrections regarding the format of the policy outline were made.
The policy needs to specify who can apply for and receive access and specifically what access they are applying for and/or receiving access to.
The policy needs to address how to deal with other/county AS400 computers on which UCIS currently resides.
The policy should allow for the future possibility of charging access fees. (no fees will be charged at this time)
The policy needs to address system availability
Kurt will work on the recommendations listed and provide a revised draft.
USER FEES
The idea of charging user or access fees was discussed in conjunction with the discussion about security levels and the discussion regarding expansion of UCIS usage. No fees will be charged at this time. However, the possibility for charging in the future was left open.
Other Business.
The status of the Byrne Grant was discussed. Development is progressing well. Testing on phase one items was being done in Grand Forks. The project seems on track.
Judge Schmalenberger adjourned the meeting.