Pictured: Mark Kenneth presenting at the workshop in Bell County on Tuesday, Apr. 28.
On Apr. 28, 2014, the Bell County Justice Center welcomed members from all 11 counties participating in the TechShare.Indigent Defense project to participate in a workshop to start discussing design and development of new functionality. This initiative is being funded under a grant awarded to Bell County earlier in the year.
The session began with opening remarks from Judge Jon Burrows, Bell County, and GK Maenius, Tarrant County Administrator and Chairman of the project’s Stakeholder Committee.
Judge Burrows thanked the attendees for their participation and commitment to providing their counties with an even more efficient product than what they have today thanks to the enhancement grant. He went on to introduce Chairman Maenius and commented, “Tarrant County is looked to as a leader in Texas, especially when it comes to identifying technology that makes them more efficient at what they do.”
Chairman Maenius thanked Judge Burrows and Bell County for hosting the event. “The end product is going to be something we’re all proud of,” he said. He also added, “Moving defendants through the system more quickly saves them and the counties both time and money.” He ended with, “Our bottom line goal is to make this program a success.”
Following opening remarks, Brad Sibley introduced Edwin Colfax, Grant Program Manager, Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC), who gave a short presentation on the importance of this initiative. “This system is modernizing the way we do indigent defense,” said Colfax. He pointed out that the enhancement grant will allow participating counties to add functionality that increases transparency, enables compliance with state laws, increases accountability between attorneys and the counties, and creates opportunities for measuring the quality of representation provided to defendants.
During the remainder of the workshop, county participants discussed:
- Background of grant activities
- Goals for the workshop
- Format for defining requirements
- Enhancements to existing system
- Juvenile appointments and vouchers
- Functional extension for magistration
- Outstanding items
- Plans for developing enhancements
- Integration with other systems
For more information about TechShare.Indigent Defense, contact Brad Sibley, at brad.sibley@cuc.org.