Court Case Management System Gets Harsh Review from State Auditor
| Jurisdiction | California,United States |
| Pages | 02 |
| Publication year | 2011 |
| Citation | Vol. 03 No. 2011 Pg. 02 |
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
CBJ - March 2011 #02. Court case management system gets harsh review from state auditor
March 2011
Staff Writer
Faced with a blistering audit of its case management system, California court leaders accepted five of the state auditor's key recommendations, including developing a realistic funding strategy for the project, whose price tag continues to swell.
State Auditor Elaine Howle said the Court Case Management System (CCMS) faces significant challenges because of poor project management, including inadequate planning, a failure to analyze whether the system would provide a cost-beneficial solution to the needs of the superior courts and inaccurate cost estimates, starting from $260 million in 2004 and escalating to $1.9 billion by 2010. The Judicial Council puts that figure at $1.3 billion.
Further, the Administrative Office of the Courts needs to win greater support from the superior courts and do a better job of obtaining independent oversight, the auditor said.
"The statewide case management project is at risk of not being able to obtain the funding needed for statewide deployment," the audit concluded. " . . . Because funding for this project is uncertain, it is unclear whether the AOC will be able to obtain the $1 billion deployment cost or the additional $391 million needed to support CCMS through fiscal year 2015-16 when the AOC has estimated that the CCMS will be fully deployed."
Although the audit did not recommend that CCMS be shelved, it did urge the AOC to thoroughly analyze the costs and benefits of the system, address the concerns of local courts, get better cost estimates and contract for outside review of the system before deployment. Perhaps most important, the audit recommended: "To address the funding uncertainty facing CCMS, the AOC should work with the Judicial Council, legislature and governor to develop an overall strategy for CCMS that is realistic, given the current fiscal crisis facing the state."
The findings led to quick adoption by the Judicial Council of five recommendations and a promise of increased oversight. "We are not disputing the auditor's findings," said Justice Terence L. Bruiniers, who chairs a Judicial Council committee that oversees CCMS. "We may have some disagreement with the tone, but we fully accept the findings and...
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