HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 210-22 - Resolution - 2022 Budget Contingency Request - City Attorney's Office Case Management System Upgrade
RESOLUTION
Authorizing Allocation of Contingency Funding for the City Attorney Case
Management System Upgrade.
WHEREAS, on December 31, 2022, the contract between the City of Rochester and
Minnesota Counties Community Cooperative/Strategic Technologies Incorporated,
related to a case management system called the Minnesota County Attorney Practice
Systems (MCAPS), will end; and
WHEREAS, the Rochester City Attorney’s Office needs a case management system that
can address the needs of both the criminal and civil divisions. Karpel Solutions offers
PROSECUTOR by KARPEL (PbK) which can serve both of those purposes; and
WHEREAS, PbK is web-based, so can be accessed and utilized by attorneys and staff
on any electronic device and from any remote location. With a wide variety of court
hearing and meeting obligations, this will improve efficiency in the performance of our
work duties and also allow for prompt response between Attorneys and staff; and
WHEREAS, PbK will significantly improve communication options with crime victims,
witnesses, as well as law enforcement personnel, including greater automation of court
scheduling/case updates. This aspect in particular has an equity impact, allowing a wider
array of communication options, rather than traditional mailed notices. As an example,
PbK facilitates text notification to individuals, without requiring City teammates to utilize
and disclose their personal cell phone numbers; and
WHEREAS, PbK will significantly streamline the discovery (evidence) disclosure process,
a process required by court rules and vital to successful criminal prosecution of a case.
In the past ten years the volume and breadth of evidence, even in minor cases, has
greatly expanded, allowing for greater transparency and accountability for all involved in
public safety encounters. This evidence must be disclosed and available, for private
attorneys and the Public Defender system, as well as for unrepresented individuals; and
WHEREAS, PbK includes a grant reporting integration tool, which would automate the
statistical reporting required for the Office of Justice Partners grant (which supports a
current victim liaison position.) The current process requires significant manual
tabulation, which takes time away from the important direct service work of victim liaison
personnel; and
WHEREAS, PbK would allow the City Attorney office to complete their ongoing effort to
limit their environmental impact and be paperless, for both criminal and civil case files;
and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney’s 2022 budget did not contemplate this one-time case
management system transition cost and cannot otherwise absorb this cost. This one-
time cost is in the amount of $75,800. Annual expenses of PbK are expected to be slightly
less than the current cost of MCAPS.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Common Council of the City of
Rochester, Minnesota, the additional funding in the amount of $75,800 be allocated to the
Rochester City Attorney’s Office from the City’s contingency fund for the additional
expenses as referenced in Attachment A to this Requested Council Action Item No. 555,
“Information to the Rochester City Attorney’s Office for a Case Management Solution”
dated August 2, 2022.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA, THIS __________ DAY OF _______________, 2022.
___________________________________
PRESIDENT OF SAID COMMON COUNCIL
ATTEST: __________________________
CITY CLERK
APPROVED THIS _____ DAY OF ______________________, 2022.
___________________________________
MAYOR OF SAID CITY
(Seal of the City of
Rochester, Minnesota)