From the Wisconsin Court System
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Chief Justice: Underfunded CCAP threatens court system
March 25, 1999 - Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson
told the Joint Committee on Finance that the court system cannot
function without an adequately funded computer system and that current
staff are handling increased work loads with obsolete technologies.
The Circuit Court Automation Program (CCAP) was developed in 1989 to
computerize Wisconsin's trial courts. Today, it serves 2,600 users in 73
locations across the state, and has become critical to case processing
and management of the $113 million that the trial courts take in
annually in fees, fines and forfeitures. CCAP has been nationally
recognized for its visionary use of information technology by the
Computerworld Smithsonian awards.
"Imagine that your system was using six-year-old computers, that the
software was too old to be supported by the vendor, and that the
legislative hotline was getting twice as many calls as in past years but
the staff remained the same. Unfortunately for the users and staff at
CCAP, they do not have to imagine these problems. They are living with
them now," Abrahamson told the Committee.
CCAP is requesting $2 million annually to fund 10 new positions,
workstations for the new judges who take office August 1, and equipment
replacement, infrastructure improvements, and increased
telecommunications costs. The governor's budget gives CCAP an additional
$1 million in revenues from court fees, but since CCAP's
non-discretionary expenditures exceed $1 million, that amounts to an
actual budget reduction of $400,000 in 1999-2000.
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