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State's Attorney details staffing, new courtroom schedule and digital records work with Axon Justice
Summary
The state's attorney reported current hiring for two attorneys, a new courtroom opening Nov. 3 that increases weekly sessions, and work to implement Axon Justice and a records-retention policy in coordination with PBK and other stakeholders.
The Cass County state's attorney updated the commission on staffing, an expanded courtroom schedule and the office’s digital transformation plans.
The office is fully staffed for non-attorney positions and in the process of hiring two attorney positions; one attorney recently returned from paternity leave and another will leave for paternity in December. The state's attorney said a new courtroom will open Nov. 3; by the office’s calculation the change will add roughly 10 extra weekly court sessions the office’s attorneys will need to cover.
The office has convened a judicial/criminal-justice advisory committee and is working on referee schedules and courtroom rotations; the state's attorney said the recent resignation of Judge Chase (who is now U.S. attorney for North Dakota) reduces the number of judges and the governor will follow statutory procedures for appointment when formalities are complete.
On records and technology, the office reported that Axon Justice is in initial rollout with early user training completed; the next step is law-enforcement onboarding. The state's attorney and staff are discussing records-retention policy and digital-file conversion with PBK, noting the process is federally and ethically complicated, particularly for juvenile files and confidential records. The office emphasized the difference between a retention schedule (which determines what must be kept) and the technical process of scanning files. The office said it will follow CJIS and other credentialing requirements for any external scanning contractors and will seek to avoid scanning files that will be purged according to retention rules.
Commissioners asked about policy, retention schedules and temporary staffing to accelerate scanning. The state's attorney said the department would prefer deliberate development of an aligned retention policy even if it takes several months and that 12–18 months remains a feasible target for significant progress if staffing/contract decisions are made.
