Court News Ohio
Court News Ohio
Court News Ohio

Year 7: Tech Grant Applications Open for Local Courts

The Supreme Court of Ohio is inviting local courts to apply for grants under the Ohio Courts Technology Initiative.

It’s the program’s seventh consecutive year. Thus far, grants have totaled $23.8 million.

“When I launched this program in 2015, the Supreme Court was trying to help close technology gaps at the local courts,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said. “We’re still filling gaps, but the program has now become much more – a true transformation in the way justice is administered in Ohio.”

Image of a chart listing grant funding by year since 2015

Since 2015, the Supreme Court of Ohio has awarded more than $23 million to local courts for technology projects.

Image of a chart listing grant funding by year since 2015

Since 2015, the Supreme Court of Ohio has awarded more than $23 million to local courts for technology projects.

Funding is available to any appeals, common pleas, municipal, or county court for projects that remove barriers to the efficient and effective administration of justice.

Applications for the 2021 program will be accepted electronically through March 5. Grants will be awarded in May.

Grants disbursed through applications submitted one year ago totaled $4.1 million. But COVID struck the state and nation in the middle of the program, leading Chief Justice O’Connor to commit another $6 million of the Court budget. The emergency phase was limited to remote technology equipment.  

“Our process had been in place for years, so adding a second, parallel phase on an emergency basis wasn’t that difficult, and the need for remote technology was great. Without those grants some courts could not have delivered judicial services to their communities,” she said.

The second phase brought 2020 totals to $10.1 million covering 345 projects across the state. 

The grant funds for 2021 can be used to buy new or to upgrade systems, hardware, or equipment for projects such as:

  • Case management systems or technology that supports the fundamental duties of the court
  • Technology systems that support pretrial services or digital notification
  • Online payment systems for court costs, fines and online filing
  • Courtroom or building security equipment.

The application form and other information is available on the Supreme Court’s website.

The Ohio Courts Technology Initiative also is designed to improve the exchange of information and warehousing of data between Ohio courts and other justice system partners, an endeavor that includes the Ohio Courts Network.

The emergency grants in 2020 spawned a high-level review group – the Task Force on Improving Court Operations Using Remote Technology, known as iCOURT.

The task force is examining how technology is being used, and could be improved, during the COVID pandemic.

“We want to maintain the technical advances we’ve made during the pandemic, and then explore how we can do even more to make courts efficient and advance justice and access to our court system,” Chief Justice O’Connor said.