Overview

• North Dakota is primarily a state-funded court system.   The county is responsible for district court facilities, but does not fund any of the district court operations.  North Dakota’s only limited jurisdiction court, the municipal courts, are funded by the cities.
• North Dakota’s appropriation of $86.7 million in FY11 was reduced to $85.7 million in FY12.  The courts will be able to maintain the same number of judges and they will be able to increase the number of staff and the amount spent on operating costs.
• The North Dakota courts are implementing e-filing, an electronic document management system (EDMS) and e-payment of fines and fees.  Their new case management system allows users to do more for themselves and allows court staff to share work across district lines. They are also implementing electronic reporting of dispositions, name changes, domestic violence protection orders, conditions of probation, and warrants of commitment to other government entities.  Subscribers receive hearing notices via e-mail.  Court calendars and criminal case dispositions are sent to attorneys and newspapers through automated e-mail service.
• North Dakota has had end to end e-citations and has been conducting hearings via videoconferencing for over 10 years.  Their introduction of e –filing and their EDMS has been done as a convenience for judges and lawyers and not as a way to reduce costs.

Reports and Articles

Gavel to Gavel

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