The content and comments provided on the Ohio Probate Courts Page do not reflect the opinion of the Supreme Court of Ohio or the Ohio Probate Judges Association. The page is a conceptual proposal designed to be a valuable resource for any Ohio Probate Court.
What is the Ohio Probate Courts Home Page? back to top
The Ohio Probate Courts Home Page is a test project of the Hamilton County Probate Court. The purpose of this web page is to act as a forum for Ohio Probate Courts to pool resources, to share ideas, and to act as a clearinghouse of information regarding the operation and infrastructure of Ohio's 88 Probate Courts. Ideally, the end product will be a vehicle in which Ohio's citizens and legal community can access uniform and consistent information which will eliminate some of the differences of the application of probate law and procedure throughout the state.
Why Do We Need an Ohio Probate Courts Home Page? back to top
Today, courts all over the country are facing many challenges in the areas of case management, document storage, funding, recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, and automation issues. An informal, statewide collaboration between probate courts would allow courts to pool their resources to achieve optimum results with maximum efficiency and lower costs, without sacrificing independence or autonomy.
What could be achieved with collaborative effort and an Ohio Probate Courts Home Page? back to top
- Many courts have, or desire to design, a web site. These sites can be time consuming and expensive. Instead of "reinventing the wheel", courts can share work product thus eliminating duplicate effort. As an accommodation to any Ohio Probate Court, the Hamilton County Probate Court is offering its web site template free of charge. Individual Probate Courts can make some minor modifications (i.e. name, color scheme, local rules, instructions, misc. content etc), and have a cutting edge web site without the effort and/or expense, while at the same time maintaining a uniform look and feel. Statewide users will benefit from familiarity with the site layout and navigation.
- Users can complete Standard Probate forms on-line with the ability to customize for any county. Forms could be used later to interface with electronic filing systems.
- Judges can submit opinions to the site which will aid other members of the bench and bar.
- Courts can develop on-line automated survey programs to collect data on issues ranging from public perception of security in the courthouse to racial fairness.
- Courts can post employment opportunities in Ohio's Probate Courts.
- Courts can plan, design and develop the next generation of a statewide Case Management Software Application based on XML Standards. This would be a core system with all the necessary programming for the court's statutory duties, with the ability to add other features desired by individual courts. This would allow case information, including document imaging, to be transferred to other courts through the appeal process all the way to the Supreme Court without re-entering case setup or docketing data. This would be the first step toward a truly paperless court system. A uniform CMS application would also enable courts to provide technical and training assistance to newly appointed judges who may want to replace existing support staff with staff unfamiliar with the administration of any custom CMS, or who lose key employees.
- Courts can work with the National Center for State Courts on projects such as statewide studies like Case Weighted Workload Standards based on statutorily mandated duties and court cost. The results of studies such as these may demonstrate a reasonable need for increased support staff and provide justification for increasing statutory fees, which if reviewed by the General Assembly may produce legislation that would eliminate some of the budgetary conflicts between the executive and the judicial branch of county government.
- Courts could develop an on-line training curriculum for deputy clerks.
Who benefits from an Ohio Probate Courts Home Page? back to top
Virtually anyone and everyone involved in a probate proceeding would benefit from a setting where courts communicate, collaborate, pool resources and provide consistent uniform information regarding Ohio's Probate Courts.
What's the next step? back to top
- Identify Courts who are open to the concept.
- Design and implement a restricted chat room on the Ohio Probate Courts Page where participants can communicate, share documents etc.
- Develop short and long term goals for discussion.
Recently, Stark and Hamilton County Probate Courts have practiced this concept. The Frequently Asked Questions on the Hamilton County Probate Court web site were provided by Stark County Probate Court. Stark County Probate Court is considering using the Hamilton County web site template and in-house imaging programs in the future. Hamilton County has developed individual Standard Probate Forms that can be completed on-line and also allow the user to insert the name of the applicable county.
