Justice Court staff told the Baker County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 25 that the office is in the final configuration stage of a new, customized case-management system and is planning to move toward mostly paperless operations.

The court's clerk, Jen Shucks, said vendor staff have taken the court's contacts, policies and procedures and are building a dashboard tailored to the office. Shucks said staff expect to start entering test data in the vendor's simulation mode within about a week and then begin running live tests.

Shucks described the system as a single platform that will let parties check case updates, see court dates and set or manage payment plans. She told the commission the platform will also support e‑filing for small claims, evictions and other filings and that e‑citation transfers from state police would be integrated so new cases appear in the docket within 24 hours of submission.

Nut graf: County officials said the software is meant to reduce manual data entry, improve timely access to dockets and increase collection rates. Shucks presented a 10‑year comparison of court filings, fines imposed and collection rates; she said Baker County's collection rate has risen to roughly 84–85 percent and that collection totals increased year‑over‑year by about 26 percent, while the national trend for similar courts is downward.

Commissioners asked about timeline and interoperability. Shucks said the vendor customizes a base product to Baker County's needs and that other Oregon courts (Wheeler and Sherman counties) have joined the same platform. She said the office plans to scan incoming tickets automatically so the scanned image can serve as the original record and that judges would have courtroom devices (laptop or tablet) to view files.

The court also described plans for a virtual courtroom via Zoom to reduce call volume at the clerk's office and cut missed appearances. Shucks said that will help reduce rescheduling because people frequently call to confirm or pay after receiving a ticket.

Ending: Commissioners acknowledged the update and staff said they will return with further implementation details and dates as testing proceeds.