Real-time update process for Odyssey/JTAC counties underway- expect higher notification volumes for a few days.

Great news! We are currently applying the updates to bring the updates for Odyssey/JTAC courts current. When this process is complete, we'll be completely synched with the courts in these counties, and updates will be applied in "real-time" so that you are always seeing current information.

While we are "rolling forward" the updates from July 1, those of you who take advantage of our notifications service may receive an unusually high volume of notifications for changes to cases or the addition of new hearings on your calendar.

When the systems are completely synched up. the volume of notifications will settle down to the normal level. Although this initial additional volume may be a bit inconvenient, we decided that, on balance, it would be better to notify you of all changes in July as a way to "jump start" the notification services and help everyone become aware of this important change.

Good news, better news, and excellent news!

Good: Over the weekend, we posted our monthly update for counties using the Odyssey Case Management System run by the State's Judicial Technology and Automation Committee. Information for those courts is now current through July 1.

Better: Included in this update was LaPorte County, which has recently converted to the Odyssey system. We've been struggling to get good information from the older case management system in LaPorte for some time, so in this case, migrating to Odyssey was a positive move, and we can now provide you with cleaner and more complete data for LaPorte.

The most excellent news is that we are about one week away from being able to provide real-time updates for counties using the Odyssey system. For about half a year now, we've provided a monthly updates for these counties. That's not near the standard of service we set for the first 50 counties that partnered with Doxpop, but we figured it was still valuable information, so we've provided the monthly updates while working toward a better solution.

Next Monday, we expect to turn on real-time updates for the Odyssey counties, which means:

1. Every time you look at a case, you'll be viewing current information.
2. You can set an alert on a case, person, or custom search and receive immediate updates via eMail as changes occur.
3. You'll receive hearing schedule notifications in real-time.
4. You'll be able to view calendars for your cases or court calendars on-line.
5. You'll be able to set up an iCal feed to ensure that whenever the local court schedules a hearing for one of your cases, it immediately appears on your personal calendar- either on your desktop, or on your mobile device.

Two New Indiana County Recorders Join Doxpop!

Doxpop is happy to announce the addition of two Indiana County Recorders to our growing database of information partners.

Fountain County Recorder, Wanda Taylor, is pleased to announce two new services for providing access to Fountain County's Recorded documents through the web.

The index to documents filed in May 1994 or later and images of documents filed in January 2003 or later are now available on-line at http://www.doxpop.com. Basic information about the documents is available at no cost. Detailed information and document images are available as a fee-based service.

In addition, Fountain County now offers a free property watch service. Any person may sign up at http://watch.doxpop.com to set a watch on his or her property and name. Participants are notified via email any time a document is filed that references the watched property or name.

Morgan County Recorder, Pam Kivett, is also pleased to announce that Doxpop is now available for providing access to Morgan County Recorded documents. The index to documents in Morgan County begin in May 1994. Images of documents are also available beginning in May 2004. 

As always, these services are provided without any use of public funding (no use of tax money.) The access provided by these services is in addition to the public access already provided at the courthouse.

For additional information, contact Waynda Taylor at the Fountain County Recorder's Office, 765-793-2431, Pam Kivett at the Morgan County Recorder's Office, 765-342-1077, or Nick Fankhauser at Doxpop, LLC; 765-373-9245; nickf@doxpop.com

LaPorte in transition- Much improved data is on the way!

LaPorte County has just completed their transition from an older case management system to the "Odyssey" system. This means that very soon, we'll be able to provide more timely notifications and cleaner data for the courts in LaPorte County. Updates will be "real-time" instead of nightly, and minute entries will be more complete.

However... there will be an interruption as we kickstart the process, and if you're depending on Doxpop for timely information from LaPorte, you need to know the details. Here's the planned schedule:

• Late next week, we'll replace the existing LaPorte information with a complete "dump" of clean information extracted on July 1st, so information will be current as of July 1, but will not updated for a few days after that load.
• In the following week, we'll begin the "real time" updates, so LaPorte information will be both current and complete from that point forward.

After the real-time updates are going, notifications will become much more timely, minute entries will be complete, and the court calendar will  become a more useful tool. We are looking forward to knowing that our patient customers will at long last be able to receive a level of value in LaPorte that we've long been able to deliver for other counties.

The CCS is back, with our apologies.

A couple of weeks ago, we thought we were improving and simplifying our system by replacing the old CCS link with the printable version of the case details. Boy were we wrong! Apparently the less detailed and simpler view is valuable to many folks, so the CCS is back.

Thanks to everyone who quickly gave us feedback about this. We do our best to make the Doxpop system better with each release, but when an "improvement" really isn't, we're willing to respond quickly.

The CCS link is available on both the search results list and in the upper right corner of case detail pages.

Please keep the feedback coming, and know that we appreciate you.

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.

Welcome Jay County Recorder!

The Jay County Recorder is pleased to announce two new services for providing access to Jay County recorded documents through the web.

The index to documents and images of documents filed in 1997 or later are now available on-line at http://www.doxpop.com. Basic information about the documents is available at no cost. Detailed information and document images are available as a fee-based service.

In addition, The Recorder's Office now offers a free property watch service to our community. Any person may sign up at http://watch.doxpop.com to set a watch on his or her property and name. Participants are notified via email any time a document is filed that references the watched property or name.

Both of these services have been provided without any use of public funding (no use of tax money.) The access provided by these services is in addition to the public access already provided at the courthouse.

For additional information, contact Bev Myers at the Recorder's Office, (260) 726-6940 or Nick Fankhauser at Doxpop, LLC; (765) 373-9245; nickf@doxpop.com.

Kosciusko County Now Offering Unlimited Image Viewing for Recorded Documents

Doxpop customers needing to view a large number of recorded documents will be pleased to learn that unlimited viewing is now available in Kosciusko County. Kosciusko County is the third Indiana county to participate in this service. Wayne County and Dearborn County are also currently participating in the unlimited viewing feature.

For a reasonable monthly fee, Doxpop customers can add this service to their existing subscription to view an unlimited number of full-size document images filed in the Kosciusko County Recorder's office.  Documents such as mortgages, deeds, and liens are available for your viewing pleasure.

To view a demonstration of how to add this service to your subscription, make sure to watch our demonstration video on our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/doxpop, or just watch the video below.

Odyssey Court Records Now Current Through May 1

Over the weekend, Doxpop completed its latest information update for Indiana Counties using Odyssey's case management system. Court record information for Odyssey counties now contain all information filed up to May 1, 2012.

We continue to work with the state in providing our customers with real-time updates to Odyssey information. Keep an eye on our blog as more information regarding the status of this project becomes available.

April information posted from the State's Odyssey system, Good news and Bad...

The monthly update for counties using the Odyssey Case Management System run by the State's Judicial Technology and Automation Committee has been posted.

However, please note that the information is incomplete for the last few days of April. The posted information is complete through midnight (end of day) on April 24th. (You may see some entries after April 24th, but please don't depend on these being complete.)


The reason is that the folks at the State extract the information in two separate batches which we merge to update our system, and they did these two extracts several days apart this month. Since the first one occurred on the 24th, we can't guarantee complete information after that date. They are sending us a second file in a few days to patch this up and make the information complete through May 1st. They have also agreed to alter their process slightly to prevent this problem in the future.

On the good news side, we are currently receiving "real time" updates from the State's Odyssey system, and are working to fully test and integrate this data feed into our system so you won't have to worry about how current the information is in the future. The initial assessment from our programmers on this feed is that the folks at the State have done their job well, and it's just a matter of time (and hard work) before we'll be able to pass the information along directly to our users.