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Milwaukie court reports ASL interpreter access, new cloud recording plans and staffing hire
Summary
City court staff told the council they have added an ASL interpreter to their vendor list, plan to move court recordings to a cloud service and expect to recruit a new court specialist in January; staff also discussed implementation hurdles for credit‑card convenience fees and prospective red‑light cameras.
Milwaukie court staff updated the council on several operational changes and upcoming implementation items.
The court said it has added an American Sign Language interpreter to the roster of available vendors, which staff described as an important step to improve access. "Interpreters are always hard to come by," the judge (unnamed) said, adding that having names "in the back pocket" will help when needs arise.
Staff also said the court is preparing to move its recordings to a cloud‑based "for the record" service to replace local, decade‑old recording equipment; the change is expected within about a year and may involve equipment upgrades depending on cost and needs.
On staffing, city personnel reported that a classification and compensation review is complete and recruitment for a position described as a court specialist (previously referred to as a deputy court clerk) should begin in early January.
Court staff and councilors discussed payment changes. The council has authorized a fee schedule that allows up to a 3 percent convenience fee for credit‑card payments; implementation requires onboarding the city's payment processor and card networks. Separately, police are researching stationary red‑light and speed cameras with an anticipated request‑for‑proposals in the spring and possible implementation next summer.
When asked about caseload trends, court staff said the court has seen a post‑COVID uptick in traffic citations and more cases from code enforcement and noted more defendants are hiring attorneys, which increases time per case. Staff reviewed presumptive fine categories from state statutes as examples of common citation amounts.
What happens next: Staff will recruit the court specialist, continue work on the cloud recording transition and report back next year with implementation details for payment and enforcement technology.
