Circuit clerk plans $1M‑plus case management upgrade; county to fund phased SaaS costs

Shannon Langloss, chief deputy in the circuit clerk’s office, told the finance committee the office is moving from a legacy case management system to a single, countywide system that will connect probation, the clerk and the state’s attorney and reduce duplicate entry. “We are the keeper of the court record,” Shannon said. “On average over a five‑year span, we average about 5,500 cases that we manage,” and the office attends court sessions and processes sentencing orders, fines and payments. Why it matters: the committee heard the county budget previously set aside $1 million in capital for the conversion; staff said the vendor’s current estimate is about $1.5 million, leaving an additional roughly $500,000 to be managed. The clerk’s office asked the committee to budget ongoing maintenance and SaaS fees; staff added $50,000 to automation and maintenance to fund case management transition fees. Timing and costs: Shannon said the project has begun with probation’s setup and that the clerk’s office and state’s attorney have had initial meetings; full kickoff and a project manager are expected in the coming months, with the implementation to take approximately 18 months once started. Staffing and fund shifts: the clerk’s budget showed wage allocations shifted into special revenue accounts last year to pay for transition work; the office said roughly $30,000–$225,000 of wages previously budgeted in county general were moved into special revenue accounts, which affects year‑over‑year comparisons. The office estimated salary costs of about $500,000 in total for department employees in the county general lines. Committee questions: members asked whether two maintenance fees would overlap; Shannon said the old system’s fee will be removed once conversion is complete. Finance staff noted that the capital spend will likely be carried across multiple fiscal years and that ongoing SaaS/maintenance costs should be spread over several years. Ending: Shannon said a project manager posting was imminent and that the clerk’s office planned to convert in stages so costs and operational disruption are manageable. “Once our conversion to the new case management system [is complete], the fee for the old system will be taken out,” she said.