History of Stanislaus County Superior Court

From history to the present, the Superior Court reveals an outstanding list of accomplishments, awards, and program development. What follows is a partial list:

• In 1989, the Superior Court successfully completed the consolidation of the County Clerk legal process staff with Court staff under the direction of the Superior Court Executive Officer.
• Since 1990, the court has received five Ralph N. Kleps Awards from the California Judicial Council for excellence and one Special Recognition Award from the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court.
• One of the Kleps Awards Stanislaus County received with Merced and Madera counties for project collaboration created a new award category called "Cross-County Cooperation".
• In 1993 and 1994, a Court Administrator served on the California Judicial Council as an advisory member, and in 1993 served as the President of the California Association of Superior Court Administrators.
• In 1993 and 1994 Judge Beauchesne and a Court Administrator served on the State Trial Courts Budget Committee.
• In 1995, the Courts' began its efforts with Stanislaus County Management Information Services to develop a unified, functionally comprehensive and integrated software and database system.
• To date, Stanislaus County Superior Court is the only mid to large size court with a software system (CARDS) that encompasses all Superior Court functions.
• In 1995 and 1996, the Superior Court judges and staff were instrumental in the creation of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, Adult Drug Court and Juvenile Drug Court.
• In 1996, the Superior and Municipal Courts consolidated all of the clerical series and Interpreter classifications as part of the Courts' ongoing coordination efforts.
• In 1996-97 the clerical functions of the Municipal and Superior Courts were consolidated as well as all clerical and staff job classifications to implement the consolidated functions of the Courts.
• Stanislaus County Superior Court was the first court in the State to put "Tentative Rulings" from the Superior Court Law and Motion Departments on the Internet.
• In 1997 the Family Law Facilitator's office was created via a State grant to assist Pro Per litigants to better understand the Family Law process of the court. 
• In 1997-98 the Court re-wired the entire courthouse to provide up-to-date CAT5E (Ethernet) connectivity moving from the old token ring environment.  
• In 2001, the Superior Court established its own Personnel Division seperate from the county and was the first mid size court statewide to contract with an independant payroll vendor.
• In 2003, the Superior Court was the first pilot court selected statewide to participate in the Administrative Office of the Courts Financial System. This financial system called CARS is now being used in the majority of the California Courts. 
• Also in 2003, the Superior Court went live on their TEAMS case management system.  The Court moved off the County mainframe onto their own WEB servers keeping the integrity of all case type information. 
• In 2004, the Superior Court was one of the first courts in the state to install a state-of-the-art security system that uses proximity key card access and digital monitoring in the public areas.
• 2005 brought a new SPAM handling system into the court, a Red Flex project where cameras were installed throughout Modesto, automatically capturing red light offenders with data transferred directly into the case management system.  The Superior Court also installed its first wireless LAN in the Jury Assembly area available for jurors awaiting trial.
• In 2006, we expanded into the old District Attorney area, where we continue to expand our services.  We built a new courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse (Department 22) and began a VMWare project where we can set up virtual servers for redundancy and outages.  Two new pieces of equipment were also purchased - one for use in training staff - a mobile training cart housing 20 wireless laptops and two, a presentation cart for use in the courtrooms which houses a DVD/VCR player, projectors, printer, and computer all of which can be controlled at the podium or judicial bench via remote. 
• In 2007, the Superior Court was the first court in the state using an RFID (radio frequency identification device) system for file retrieval and tracking. 
• In 2007, one of the Courts Administrators was elected to serve on the National Association for Court Management Board of Directors. This is an organization consisting of a membership of approximately 2,500 members nationwide.
• Biometrics was introduced in 2007 allowing users a fingerprint scanner to sign on to their computers rather than having to remember the numerous passwords required for individual applications. 

• The creation of a Dependency Drug Court.
• The creation of a Juvenile Justice Forum.
• Allowing public access to court records on the court's database.
• Implementing a document imaging program so the public can view and print document images from case files without coming to the courthouse.
• Developing a full service branch for clerical operations in Turlock.
• Through the Courts and Their Community Committee and with the help of CableOne, create a Superior Court TV series of programs which will explain court processes, programs, etc. and a Speaker's Bureau.
• E-filing in the Courts
• VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) replacing the Courts antiquated analog phone system