The Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges is now offering attorneys
and self-represented litigants the opportunity to use a free online
service to complete an interview, generate the applicable forms and
electronically file court forms via the Odyssey®eFileGA
portal. Filings created online may also be submitted by mail or in
person for any magistrate court in the state. The tool is called the
Magistrate Courts Free Forms Generator and is powered by the Tyler
Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) Odyssey
Guide & File solution.
"The Council of Magistrate Court Judges has been brainstorming ways to
help the public and, specifically, the self-represented litigant group
for several years now," said Sharon Reiss, executive director of the
Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges. "Magistrate court was
designed to be the people's court and, especially since the economic
downturn, we have seen even more self-representation. In an effort to
gain more uniformity, education, and efficiencies within our courts, we
wanted to develop a free service that would make our forms not only
easier to fill out, but also more complete so that judges had all the
information about a case before court."
The Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges is the first Tyler client
to roll out interviews statewide through a Web portal and via mobile
technology. Georgia's 159 magistrate courts will also be able to offer
in-house access to the guided filing process, without additional strain
on employees, through use of kiosks. The court exceeds 500,000 filings
annually.
"Tyler is proud to assist the Magistrate Court to expand access to
justice across all Georgia counties with an easy-to-use solution that
helps self-represented litigants; they are a leader in leveraging this
rapidly expanding way to increase access to justice while at the same
time improving court efficiencies," said Bruce Graham, president of
Tyler's Courts & Justice Division. "The Georgia Council of Magistrate
Court Judges is providing a tool that will streamline court processes
and improve service to constituents, and we look forward to helping them
succeed."
Odyssey Guide & File allows users to develop interviews and provide
relevant, informative content that can result in a reduction of
erroneous filings and staff time answering pro se questions. As a
cloud-based solution, self-guided interviews are published and accessed
from the court's website, providing flexibility for self-represented
litigants to complete the interview anytime, from anywhere. Other early
adopters of Odyssey Guide & File include the South Dakota Unified
Judicial System; the State of Idaho Judicial Branch; Eighth Judicial
District Court in Las Vegas; and the Second Judicial District court in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
To find out more about the interviews offered, visit the Georgia Council
of Magistrate Court Judges' website: www.gamagcouncil.org.
More information about Odyssey Guide & File can be found at www.tylertech.com/guidefile.
About Tyler Technologies, Inc.
Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL) is a leading provider of end-to-end
information management solutions and services for local governments.
Tyler partners with clients to empower the public sector - cities,
counties, schools and other government entities - to become more
efficient, more accessible and more responsive to the needs of citizens.
Tyler's client base includes more than 11,000 local government offices
in all 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other
international locations. Forbes has named Tyler one of "America's Best
Small Companies" seven times and the company has been included four
times on the Barron's 400 Index, a measure of the most promising
companies in America. More information about Plano-based Tyler
Technologies can be found at www.tylertech.com.
Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges
Judge W. Allen
Wigington, 706-253-8747
President & Chief Magistrate Judge
or
Sharon
Reiss, 404-463-4171
Executive Director
sharon.reiss@gaaoc.us
or
Jetstream
PR for Tyler Technologies
Tony Katsulos, 972-788-9456, ext. 301
katsulos@jetstreampr.com