Remote Hearings & Services

Remote Hearings & Services

Courts can leverage technology to improve the experience of all court users. We have created and collected best practices, considerations, technical advice, and more to assist your court in offering remote and virtual services.

Hybrid Hearings Improvement Initiative

More than 20 jurisdictions participated in a pilot project to help establish best practices and guidelines for hybrid hearings. Our report reviews the findings and shares examples of how courts are advancing hybrid hearings in various jurisdictions.

Learn more.

Tiny Chats

Tiny Chats are bite-sized annotated videos that touch on specific access to justice topics and court operations.

Watch videos.

Resources

State court considerations for the changing "notice and publication" environment
Download PDF File (2.0 MB)
Court Data Sharing from Scratch
This guide helps small and medium-sized courts start managing data requests responsibly and efficiently. It offers a breakdown of the data request process and introduces key questions courts should consider at each stage. This complements more in-depth materials about creating detailed data policies and is designed to make it easy for beginners to understand and implement court data sharing.
Download PDF File (147.4 KB)
Court Chatbots: How to Build a Great Chatbot for Your Court's Website
Chatbots can be an effective tool for improving access to services and efficiency in court operations. This guide breaks down chatbot basics and identifies key areas to address when considering a solution for your court.
Download PDF File (1.2 MB)
National scan of authority for remote or virtual court proceedings
This resource and accompanying table (Appendix 1) offer an update of how the 50 states and the District of Columbia have approached allowing for remote or virtual proceedings in some fashion.
Download PDF File (714.0 KB)
The Use of Remote Hearings in Texas State Courts: The Impact on Judicial Workload
This 12-month study analyzed both 1.25 million minutes of judicial data and focus group feedback from judges and court leaders in eight counties across Texas. (December 2021 report)
Download PDF File (1.5 MB)
Remote Proceeding Toolkit
This toolkit has been developed to help courts consider what the best practices are for remote hearings.
Download PDF File (16.6 MB)
Inflection Point: Can Courts Use Technology to Spur Transformational Change or Will They Return to the Traditional Way of Doing Business?
This Article situates the use of technology by courts in recent guiding principles disseminated by CCJ/COSCA with examples from across the country of courts using technology well to solve problems. This document also provides a framework for addressing how any process improvements and technology solutions to come out of the pandemic can be evaluated, continued, and strengthened.
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Contracting Digital Services
This white paper is focused on helping courts and court personnel to begin to incorporate the principles and approaches into the contract terms that define their digital infrastructure.
Download PDF File (368.7 KB)
Remote and Virtual Hearings Technology Considerations
This resource introduces the framework for courtroom technology as well as case studies of courts that support both remote and hybrid hearings.
Download PDF File (402.7 KB)