Chief Justice nominee Raheem Mullins pushes digital courtrooms, pilots Wi‑Fi in three courthouses

Chief Justice Raheem L. Mullins told the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 22 that expanding public Wi‑Fi and building state‑of‑the‑art digital courtrooms are top priorities if lawmakers confirm him for an eight‑year term.

Mullins outlined two parallel efforts currently underway: a three‑site pilot to provide public Wi‑Fi in courthouse common areas and early work on “digital courtrooms” designed to make evidence presentation and jury displays fully electronic.

The Wi‑Fi pilot starts in Waterbury (400 Grand Street), with additional pilot locations Mullins identified at 101 Lafayette Street in Hartford and 235 Church Street in New Haven. “We’re moving forward with getting Wi Fi in the public areas of our courthouses,” Mullins said, adding that Waterbury already has cabling and access points installed and that officials are finalizing public‑access policies, a guest portal and disclaimers.

Mullins said the judicial branch is also piloting two digital courtrooms — one at the Washington Street Courthouse (95 Washington Street) in Hartford and another at the Lafayette Street Courthouse — where monitors in the jury box and at counsel tables, cabling and a central evidence console are being installed. “The goal is for that courtroom to be up and running by the end of this month,” he told the committee.

Mullins acknowledged both pilots will require more funding and staff time. He said the Lafayette Street work includes coordination with the Hartford State’s Attorney’s office about jointly using grant funds for a digital courtroom there. On funding, he described a mix of bonding and operating funds as likely necessary.

Committee members pressed Mullins on timing and priorities. Representative Mark Fishbein described having successfully uploaded exhibits in a courtroom and told Mullins that remote filing and in‑court uploads have improved efficiency for civil litigants. Mullins said the Waterbury site was the nearest activation and that New Haven would follow; expansion beyond the three pilots will depend on additional funds.

Mullins also tied technology to other branch priorities: consolidating older courthouse space into fewer, modern buildings; improving courthouse safety and marshal staffing; and enhancing remote interpreter and remote judicial services. “Safety is a concern,” Mullins said, adding marshals and courthouse security were high on the short list of needs.

On broader operational issues he raised with a statewide compensation commission, Mullins said judges’ workloads — including complex post‑trial work and writing opinions — can stretch beyond a traditional 9‑to‑5 schedule. “I definitely have a firm position that judges should get raises,” he told the panel, while acknowledging that more judges and efficiencies also help manage workload pressures.

The committee took testimony on Mullins’s nomination and other judicial candidates the same day; the committee advanced Mullins’s nomination for further Senate consideration.

Ending: The digital and Wi‑Fi pilots represent early, visible steps in a longer plan Mullins described to modernize Connecticut courthouses. Lawmakers signaled interest in the tech work but said they will weigh funding requests and competing priorities during the 2025 session.