This information has been expressly provided to share with clients and end-users to show that progress is and will continue to be made in improving Massachusetts Court access.
NAPBS Government Relations - Access Subcommittee members met last week with the Massachusetts District Court Administrator and members of her staff to address delays and limitations faced by CRAs in dealing with Massachusetts court records. The greatest of these problems being found in the counties of Worchester, Hampden, Franklin, Essex, and Middlesex.
The Court's staff was quite receptive to the information NAPBS provided, and was willing to work to improve what were described to them as "some of the worst criminal record TATs in the nation." There is a tremendous backlog, but court researchers have already noted improvements in speed, availability, and an increase in number of cases they could access. As an association, we are pleased to see the District Court Administrator take action to address our concerns.
The team was also successful in discussing ongoing communication channels with the Court Administrator, to further improve access, including:
- Facilitating industry feedback on a potential new clerk-online search process.
- Advocating a working Massachusetts court model (Springfield) for other courts experiencing delays processing current volumes.
- Continuing dialogue on turnaround times and delays we experience so remedies can be found more immediately.
- Increasing access and turnaround in the Boston Municipal Court System
- Finding ways to expand electronic records access to save time and costs for both CRA's and the courts.
We look forward to working more with the District Court Administrator in the future as we continue to improve Massachusetts access, and will continue to update as the process moves along. Further, we hope to be able to use this model of open communication in other states and jurisdictions to help increase access and improve the climate for the industry across the nation.
Questions can be addressed to NAPBS State Government Relations & Grassroots Director Brent Smoyer at
[email protected]
.
