Four Reasons Why Virtual Court is Here to Stay

As digital tools simplify and ease access to our daily needs, from food delivery via smartphone to automated online payments, it’s difficult for many to imagine life without such conveniences. When you then consider the multiple steps needed for a constituent to appear in court — taking time off work, finding childcare, accessing reliable transportation, finding parking, waiting to appear for the hearing, plus additional wait time to pay — in-person hearings can conflict with the instant access the public now expects. While virtual court was often initially deployed to help courts process cases and avoid backlogs during the pandemic, innovative courts have recognized the important role this solution plays in prioritizing efficient resolution as they evolve post pandemic.

“Old school is going away,” said Jeanelle Andersen, court administrator for the city of Fort Lupton, Colorado. “We’re not the 1974 courthouse anymore. And as the younger generation comes around, the more virtual courts are going to be the norm.”

Andersen, along with other court leaders from around the country, joined a recent webinar hosted by Marlin Jones and Jackson Burnside, virtual court experts from Tyler Technologies. The panelists discussed their respective success stories with the platform at length, including the benefits for both constituents and court staff. Read on to learn the key reasons their courts believe virtual court is here to stay:

1. Increased Compliances

Considering the multiple steps a defendant must take to appear in court, courts often suffer from high failure to appear (FTA) rates. With a virtual court option, FTAs can be significantly reduced.

“We get about 90% of people who sign up for virtual court actually appearing to take care of their citations,” said Amy Foster, business services manager for the city of Gardner, Kansas.  

Additionally, with a text notification option within the software, courts can create a standard message template one time and have it automatically sent to all defendants and parties on the docket, with each of their unique meeting links included. Defendants who live in other cities or states are empowered to resolve their case with convenience. For instance, Andersen’s court intersects two major highways, so they see a lot of traffic violators who are just passing through.

“We get a lot of out-of-state, a lot of out-of-town [violators],” noted Andersen. “With our in-person dockets, our failure to appears range anywhere from 40 to 60%, but with our virtual court dockets, our failure to appears are less than 10%.”

2. Punctual Payments

With greater accessibility and reminder features available through modern software systems, courts are finding that those who attend a virtual hearing are more likely to make a payment toward their case on time. Payment links appear on the screen during the virtual court session, an evolution from prior videoconferencing sessions that required defendants to ask court staff where and how to submit a payment after the virtual hearing.

“It makes it so easy when they know that they have the option to pay when they’re on the virtual hearing,” said Foster. “And then they're finished with the hearing — they're done, their case is closed.”

When the hearing is concluded, their virtual court software will automatically send summary emails from the session with all the information needed to fully resolve their case, plus links to online payment sites. A feature to text payment options to defendants has proven to be successful as well in the city of Littleton, Colorado.

“We've built in a text schedule of reminders too, just in case they didn't pay immediately, which we see the clear majority doing,” said Danielle Trujillo, court administrator for the city of Littleton, Colorado. “About 60% are paying right then and there … and then those who don't, we send a reminder the next day and then we send it every Friday. And that's how we're getting paid.”

3. Financial and Time Savings

Holding consistent virtual dockets for defendants allows for reduced foot traffic in the courthouse, even enough to lower security needs for some courts, which is the case for Trujillo’s court. “We are seeing a whole salary of savings, from being able to reduce security measures in that way because the foot traffic isn't there, so we don't have to arm the building in the same way,” said Trujillo.

With less people physically walking into the courthouse, staff are benefiting as well — with less of their time taken up checking people in for hearings or answering questions, they can focus on other tasks. Trujillo’s court reduced hearing days by 15%, allowing staff to work four 10-hour days and flex their schedules each week. In fact, all three panelists cited that their respective courts hold one or two virtual dockets per month post-pandemic, with the ability to process cases for 25-50 defendants in a one-hour virtual session.

4. More-Flexible Options

With an automated process comes greater flexibility not only for defendants, but also for court staff, allowing them to manage their time and efforts on more complex work. The modern virtual court platform automates nearly every aspect of a remote hearing process — before, during, and after the session.

“Our idea of a virtual court delivers a process that is just as easy, if not easier than conducting court sessions in person, while still providing functionality that allows your court to fully resolve cases virtually,” said Burnside.

While videoconferencing has existed for years for courts, it required multiple third-party applications to broadcast the sessions, store documents, and gather electronic signatures, plus ongoing manual work from clerk staff to email reminders to defendants, attorneys, and judges. Modern virtual court software enables everything in one setting. The platform gives courts the tools and controls that allow a true virtual court hearing to take place without needing to gather several different solutions and make them all work together.

“We have found that it has created more time efficiencies across the board,” said Foster. “To allow our court staff to be doing other tasks, to prepare better for our live dockets, and then we are out of here much earlier versus having all the people in person, and our clerks have appreciated that as well in our virtual court life.”

Transitioning in Favor of Constant Convenience

Increased accessibility and flexibility allowed the three courts to successfully shift from pandemic crisis to constant convenience for their respective communities. An encompassing remote resolution — scheduling a case, checking in for court, sharing documents, handling the disposition, then paying the amount due in one sitting virtually — is now the goal for progressive courts.

“I just feel like we opened a door to our defendants and to take [virtual court] away, and not have that option, and take it back old school just really doesn't help them help themselves,” noted Foster.

New-school technology replaces old-school methods, advancing to a favorable pace in modern times for all.

“Virtual court and remote options were not just built because of the pandemic, they were built to give access to justice to everyone, so everyone has that opportunity,” concluded Jones.