State Courts' $2 Billion IT Project in Disarray, Audit Finds

Lady Justice: No IT expert

​The California state auditor's office has released a scathing report criticizing mismanagement and waste in the years-long effort to overhaul and update state courts' methods for keeping track of cases electronically.

The 143-page audit scrutinized the Administrative Office of the Courts' efforts since 2003 to create a unified information-technology system for keeping track of case information at civil and criminal courts throughout the state.

Among other problems, auditors found that the estimated cost of the project, called the California Court Case Management System (CCMS), had swelled dramatically -- from $260 million in 2004 to $1.9 billion last year. They also determined that "the statewide case management project may be at substantial risk of future quality problems" as a result of the AOC's failure to address concerns about the project raised by consultants.

The audit also found that some of the major court systems in California are in near-rebellion against deployment of the new system based on concerns about its quality and funding. The audit notes that "both Los Angeles and the Superior Court of Sacramento County asserted that they will not adopt CCMS unless their concerns about the system are resolved."

The audit recommends that state officials at the AOC conduct "a thorough analysis of the costs and benefits of CCMS" and try to address local courts' concerns about the new IT project.

You can read the full document here.

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