Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges Provides Statewide Self-Service Access for Self-Represented Litigants
September 16 2014 - 8:17AM
Business Wire
Court chooses Tyler Technologies’ Guide &
File solution to increase access to justice
The Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges is now offering
attorneys and self-represented litigants the opportunity to use a
free online service to complete an interview, generate the
applicable forms and electronically file court forms via the
Odyssey® eFileGA portal. Filings created online may also be
submitted by mail or in person for any magistrate court in the
state. The tool is called the Magistrate Courts Free Forms
Generator and is powered by the Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:
TYL) Odyssey Guide & File solution.
“The Council of Magistrate Court Judges has been brainstorming
ways to help the public and, specifically, the self-represented
litigant group for several years now,” said Sharon Reiss, executive
director of the Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges.
“Magistrate court was designed to be the people’s court and,
especially since the economic downturn, we have seen even more
self-representation. In an effort to gain more uniformity,
education, and efficiencies within our courts, we wanted to develop
a free service that would make our forms not only easier to fill
out, but also more complete so that judges had all the information
about a case before court.”
The Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges is the first
Tyler client to roll out interviews statewide through a Web portal
and via mobile technology. Georgia’s 159 magistrate courts will
also be able to offer in-house access to the guided filing process,
without additional strain on employees, through use of kiosks. The
court exceeds 500,000 filings annually.
“Tyler is proud to assist the Magistrate Court to expand access
to justice across all Georgia counties with an easy-to-use solution
that helps self-represented litigants; they are a leader in
leveraging this rapidly expanding way to increase access to justice
while at the same time improving court efficiencies,” said Bruce
Graham, president of Tyler’s Courts & Justice Division. “The
Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges is providing a tool that
will streamline court processes and improve service to
constituents, and we look forward to helping them succeed.”
Odyssey Guide & File allows users to develop interviews and
provide relevant, informative content that can result in a
reduction of erroneous filings and staff time answering pro se
questions. As a cloud-based solution, self-guided interviews are
published and accessed from the court’s website, providing
flexibility for self-represented litigants to complete the
interview anytime, from anywhere. Other early adopters of Odyssey
Guide & File include the South Dakota Unified Judicial System;
the State of Idaho Judicial Branch; Eighth Judicial District Court
in Las Vegas; and the Second Judicial District court in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
To find out more about the interviews offered, visit the Georgia
Council of Magistrate Court Judges’ website: www.gamagcouncil.org.
More information about Odyssey Guide & File can be found at
www.tylertech.com/guidefile.
About Tyler Technologies,
Inc.
Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of
end-to-end information management solutions and services for local
governments. Tyler partners with clients to empower the public
sector — cities, counties, schools and other government entities —
to become more efficient, more accessible and more responsive to
the needs of citizens. Tyler’s client base includes more than
11,000 local government offices in all 50 states, Canada, the
Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other international locations.
Forbes has named Tyler one of “America’s Best Small Companies”
seven times and the company has been included four times on the
Barron’s 400 Index, a measure of the most promising companies in
America. More information about Plano-based Tyler Technologies can
be found at www.tylertech.com.
Georgia Council of Magistrate Court JudgesJudge W. Allen
Wigington, 706-253-8747President & Chief Magistrate
JudgeorSharon Reiss, 404-463-4171Executive
Directorsharon.reiss@gaaoc.usorJetstream PR for Tyler
TechnologiesTony Katsulos, 972-788-9456, ext.
301katsulos@jetstreampr.com
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