The St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court has received a $112,826.77 grant to upgrade its reporting system that captures necessary data for electronic transmission to state and federal databases automatically.
Charlie Jagneaux, clerk of court, announced the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration grant from the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Portions of the grant will be shared with the judges of the 27th Judicial Court District and the St. Landry Sheriff’s Department, he said.
The upgrade will allow for improvement of the accuracy and timeliness of traffic and DWI disposition reporting, he said.
The reporting is mandated by the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles and the National Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) information system.
Norm Gobert, director of the Louisiana Supreme Court Management Information System (CMIS) presented the Grant to the Clerk’s Office.
Gobert’s roots are in St. Landry Parish. His family is from the “Pot Cove” area between Eunice and Opelousas, Jagneaux said.
The grant consists of 25 computers of which the judges of the 27th JOC will receive five. Five high capacity scanners will also be installed along with a computer server system for backup and safe keeping. The backup system will be located offsite one-half at the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Complex and one-half at the clerk’s office in the Courthouse.
All the necessary licenses and labor to install the equipment is included in the grant.
In addition, Jagneaux talked about future grants the Court system will be receiving. The Clerk’s Office is anticipating receiving a grant for E-filing of court documents. E-filing allows lawsuits, petitions and other legal filings in the civil court system to be received electronically by email or direct internet transmission. The system is presently the only means of filing used in Federal Court.
“The St. Landry Clerk’s Office will be as advanced as any Clerk’s Office in the nation. “E-filing of Court Documents (electronic filing) will be a dream come true”, Jagneaux said.
The judges of the 27th JDC are also looking forward to receiving a Supreme Court grant to install “Smart Bench,”an enhanced court records retrieval system which will work in conjunction with the civil record system of the Clerk of Court, Jagneaux state. Both grants will improve the efficiency and capacity of the judicial system in the parish.