On Tuesday, March 8, Judge Marion Warren, director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (NCAOC), and Moore and Johnston county court officials hosted local legislators at the courthouse to discuss the use of technology in our courts. Moore County met with Rep. James Boles Jr., and Johnston County hosted Rep. Leo Daughtry.

During the visits, Judge Warren, court officials, and legislators toured the courthouse and viewed the new Criminal and Infraction Public Records Search (CIPRS) that was recently launched statewide.

Showing legislators how state funds are being used in the Judicial Branch is very important," said Judge Warren. "Although a great deal of work remains, we have made great progress to modernize processes, increase access to information, and improve interaction with the courts through technology enablement projects."

Both Rep. Boles and Rep. Daughtry serve as chairs on the Justice and Public Safety Committee.

"Background checks are important to our corporate and private citizens," said Rep. Boles. "Having a more convenient way to access information and the ability to email background check information is important to keeping citizens safe."

"The new CIPRS system provides such a robust search and includes records that go back decades ago," said Rep. Daughtry. "I'm pleased that the courts have used resources wisely to make this system available."

Providing systems such as CIPRS is part of a larger initiative to modernize court technology systems statewide.

"We are hearing from users of the system that it is quite easy to use," said Moore County Clerk of Superior Court Susan Hicks "Clerks have a lot of demands and responsibilities. Modern systems such as this allow clerk staff to focus their attention to other service areas in need."

"Technology has such potential to help in so many areas and to provide a great number of benefits," said Johnston County Clerk of Superior Court Michelle Ball. "I look forward to the implementation of more of these systems in the judicial branch, which will make our offices and information readily available to those we serve."

Judge Warren and Randolph County court officials will host Rep. Pat Hurley on Wednesday, March 16. Judge Warren also recently hosted Rep. John Faircloth and Sen. Shirley Randleman at the N.C. Judicial Center on Friday, March 4.

Among the administrative services to help the North Carolina unified court system operate more efficiently and effectively, NCAOC provides information technology services and solutions to support the day-to-day work of the North Carolina Judicial Branch. This includes supporting computer hardware, software, and telephone systems in more than 260 court offices statewide, including 400 district and superior courtrooms. The NCAOC also maintains and operates a statewide communications network to support the Judicial Branch, including data and network operations centers in Raleigh, which is the hub of its operations. In addition to court users, NCAOC supports and maintains access to its criminal systems for over 32,000 law enforcement users statewide.

About N.C. Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch is an equal and distinctively separate branch and core function of government. More than 6,000 Judicial Branch employees statewide administer justice in courthouses in North Carolina's 100 counties. The Judicial Branch budget for FY 2015 - 2016 is $484.9M, 92% of which is used to pay salaries and the remaining 8% is used for operations. The Judicial Branch receives only 2.23% of the overall State budget. More than 54% of the Judicial Branch's appropriation is equivalent to revenues collected by the courts through imposed fines and fees that are deposited in the State General Fund.

About N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts
The N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts (NCAOC) is the administrative agency for the N.C. Judicial Branch, providing administrative services to help the North Carolina court system operate more efficiently and effectively, taking into account each courthouse's diverse needs, caseloads, and available resources.