Doxpop - Tools for Attorneys and Public Information Researchers: Change is in the air! A new feature arrives, an old friend moves...

Monday, June 11, 2012

Change is in the air! A new feature arrives, an old friend moves...

This weekend we released a couple of changes this weekend that moved an old feature, and added a new one.

First, your old friend, the printable CCS, has moved:
In the past, when you wanted the details of a case, you could either click on the case number, or on a link labelled "CCS" just to the right of the case number in the search results screen. The CCS view was a simpler layout, intended for printing the details rather than viewing them. We have eliminated this link, and now you should click on the case number any time you want case details. If you need a print version, click on the "Printable View" link in the upper right corner, and you'll get a simpler layout designed for printing.
Second, we're trying out a new type of search: 
On the "advanced search" screen, you'll find a link that invites you to try our new "Judgment Search". The Judgment Search is intended to help you find cases where a decision has been made against the defendant. This could be for something as simple as a speeding ticket or as complex as civil litigation resulting in a lien. 
The Judgment Search is a work in progress, so we're putting it out there without any guarantees and inviting you to use it in addition to your regular searching. Then give us your feedback so we can fine tune it. During this test period, you may do as many Judgment Searches as you want for free.
To appear on this screen, a case must match the name you enter for the defendant and also meet one of three criteria:

  1. The case may have been designated as one having a judgment or a satisfaction of judgment by the clerk. This is done either by entering an explicit judgment date, or by setting a flag indicating that a "Hard Copy" or "Document" containing Judgment has been filed in the permanent record. Many clerks always mark cases in this manner whenever they place a case in their Judgment Docket Book. For the clerks who use this approach, it provides a very complete record of judgments for their particular county.
  2. The case may have an "accounting entry", meaning that the clerk has been ordered by the court to collect some fee from the defendant for this case. In counties that do not make a judgment docket entry, this is a good method of being sure that a judgment has been entered against the defendant for this case, but may not provide a complete list of all cases where a judgment exists.
  3. The case may have a minute entry containing the key word "judgment" (or the alternate spelling "judgement".) This is also a good indication for the particular case identified, but, like the accounting entries, may not identify all cases for the county in question.
We're currently in the process of surveying all of the clerks we work with to learn which counties use the most complete method of flagging all cases where a judgment occurs, and for these counties, when that method was first used. When we have this information, we'll post it in a table. In the meantime, take a look and let us know what you think. It doesn't cost a thing to try it out, and your thoughts will help us make it better.


13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do not like the CCS removed. The print out we now get is too wordy and is burning trees to get the info we need for day to day searches.

Anonymous said...

I think the new print out is a waste of very expensive ink!

Anonymous said...

I would like to see the CCS added back to the searches.

Anonymous said...

I HATE the CCS being gone and I racked up a few on my search count before I realized Judgment search IS adding up on my account. If it isn't broken, why try to fix it???

Anonymous said...

A big step backwards on getting an eassy to read digest

Anonymous said...

I PREFER the CCS also. Too much on $ for the cost of the action.

Anonymous said...

Put it back the way it was!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Put it back! Why would I need to know how the fees are divided up?

Anonymous said...

I would like to have the old CCS back - don't need all the extra info. Also, you say the "Printable View" will give us the old CCS printout, however, it does not.

Eric said...

Please don't pretend the old CCS has only moved. It has been replaced and has very little in common with the old CCS in terns of formatting, layout and ease of copy and paste. As the implementation of statewide Odyssey looms and most or all of this data becomes free to all, you should tread lightly when implementing a change that diminishes useability while marketing the change as "simply moved" to another location.

Anonymous said...

I don't like the changes to the printable CCS. What a waste of paper.

Anonymous said...

I use both views. This view is great for tracking judgment payments but I agree with everyone here - I, too, prefer the CCS for viewing and printing case info. Doxpop, PLEASE restore the CCS and give back the viewers their choice of viewing preference! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Yay!! Thanks for changing it back!