Court clerk takes the justice system online

Honea said his department has accomplished 13 years of goals in the past 18 months.

When one thinks of the court system, technology usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

But, Madison’s municipal court has “significant steps” in the technology field in last two years, according to Court Clerk Rick Honea.

“We were able to accomplish 13 years of goals in 18 months under this administration,” Honea said. We now have added security in the courtroom with metal detector, we redesigned the layout of the internal office to give it a more professional look and we’ve recently started taking credit card payments for tickets.“

Honea said he is most proud of the establishment of the e-Ticket program, because he said it would free up manual time for office staff and is a more efficient way of paying tickets.

“One time the officers had to hand write tickets and we would have to take that same information and duplicate it in our system,” He said. “Now, if you get a ticket, it’s printed out from police car, download to the Department of Public Safety, and we turn around and upload back to our court, assign it a case number and file it away.”

It is technological advances like the e-Ticket system that Honea said keeps him constantly looking for new ways to make the court system more productive in its daily routine.

“The court system technology is changing everyday,” he said. “We get more ways to access information and make us more efficient in our jobs.”

Another facet Honea said he is pleased to have is the ability swear in police officers under oath via video hearings, instead of in person, which he says reduces expenses and time.

“Without the staff, it would not have happened,” he said. “They are on the front line dealing with the public everyday and they really have to remain knowledgeable with the changing laws and changing technology.”

The responsibility of Madison’s municipal court is to receive records and maintain information on traffic tickets, non-traffic cases and parking violations.

“The three-fold responsibility of this department is clerical, administrative and judicial,” he said. “The position of magistrate is different in that they have a lot of responsibility because they do different types of hearings to determine bonds, issue warrants, put them under oath and determine probable cause.”

As court clerk, he oversees the administrative functions.

The six people who work in the department are all certified magistrates.

“Our primary responsibility is guiding people through the court system,” he said. “Unfortunately, the judicial system is pretty confusing sometimes. People don’t have a clue what to do or how to handle the situation, we don’t give legal advice, but walk them through the process and answer questions.”

He said when people get a ticket for the first time, they may not know the next step in the process.

“That’s why the department always has people on hand to guide those people through that process,” Honea said. “It gives me a particular satisfaction to be able to give them some peace.”

As far as future plans for the department, one idea Honea has is to set up video hearings between the jail and the court, where judges could conduct arraignments with prisoners via satellite video, rather than have them come to the court.

“It would freeze up man power for police department certainly increases security,” he said. “It’s m ore of a long-term goal.”