HOUSE  .   .   .   .   .   .   .  No. 5046

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 20, 2022.                         

 

The committee on Ways and Means, to whom was referred the Bill to improve and modernize the information technology systems and capacities of the judiciary (House, No. 4499), reports recommending that the same ought to pass with an amendment substituting therefor the accompanying bill (House, No. 5046) [Bond Issue: General Obligation Bonds: $164,000,000.00].

 

For the committee,

 

AARON MICHLEWITZ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FILED ON: 7/20/2022

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 5046

 

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act to improve and modernize the information technology systems and capacities of the judiciary.

 

Whereas, the deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to improve and modernize the information technology systems and capacities of the judiciary, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. To provide for a program to improve and modernize the information technology infrastructure of the supreme judicial court, appeals court, trial court and departments of the trial court of the commonwealth, the sums set forth in this act, for the several purposes and subject to the conditions specified in this act, are hereby made available, subject to the laws regulating the disbursement of public funds; provided, however, that the amounts specified in an item or for a particular project may be adjusted in order to facilitate projects authorized in this act. The sums made available in this act shall be in addition to any amounts previously made available for these purposes.

SECTION 2.

JUDICIARY

0330-6000For costs associated with establishing digital courthouses and courtrooms; provided, that projects funded in this item shall include an access to justice portal to enable electronic file storage and electronic access to case information by court users; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include a remote video interpreting system; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include a content management system to manage electronically filed documents, forms and evidence with a workflow engine to manage court operations and enable system wide real-time docketing and data access; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include wireless internet access in courthouses for court staff and court users; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include digital signage in all courthouses; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include the costs associated with planning for the replacement of a case management system for the trial court; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include replacement of the appellate court case management system; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include a supreme judicial court digital reporting system that permits self-publishing for the supreme judicial court and appeals court; and provided further, that projects funded in this item shall be funded in consultation, as applicable, with the secretary of technology services and security………………………………………………………………………………...$94,000,000

SECTION 2A.

JUDICIARY

0330-6001For costs associated with establishing a modern and secure judiciary; provided, that projects funded in this item shall include costs associated with establishing a digital security system to protect court systems, networks and data; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include court system-wide replacement of physical security hardware which shall include, but not be limited to, video surveillance systems, duress systems, security scanning systems and inter-personnel communications equipment; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include centralized law enforcement communication systems; and provided further, that projects funded in this item shall be funded in consultation, as applicable, with the secretary of technology services and security…………………..$35,000,000

SECTION 2B.

JUDICIARY

0330-6002For costs associated with the technological modernization of court administrative operations; provided, that projects funded in this item shall include court system-wide voice over internet protocol phone systems; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include an energy management system; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include a data storage system of sufficient capacity to meet the needs of the court system; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include costs associated with enterprise resource planning; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include costs associated with establishing a virtual private network to enable court employee remote access to court systems and data; provided further, that projects funded in this item shall include costs associated with increased bandwidth capacity in all court locations to accommodate a digital court system; and provided further, that projects funded in this item shall be funded in consultation, as applicable, with the secretary of technology services and security….$35,000,000

SECTION 3. Section 9B of chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- Electronically imprinting the established seal of a court in a form authorized by the supreme judicial court, appeals court, the trial court or any department of the trial court, shall be taken and held to be the seal of such court.

SECTION 4. Section 7 of chapter 185 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “court”, in line 7, the following words:- , or may be electronically maintained by the recorder’s office.

SECTION 5. Said chapter 185, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out section 9 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 9. An authorized facsimile or electronic rendering of the recorder’s signature on any court records, orders, decisions, documents or legal papers, or copies thereof, or upon any writ, summons, order of notice, order of attachment or execution shall have the same validity as a written signature of the recorder.

SECTION 6. Section 6 of chapter 185C of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “affixed”, in lines 2 and 3, the following words:- or electronically imprinted.

SECTION 7. Section 14 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “papers”, in line 5, the following words:- , whether in physical or electronic form,.

SECTION 8. Said section 14 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “thereof”, in line 17, the following words:- , whether in physical or electronic form,.

SECTION 9. Said section 14 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “facsimile”, in line 20, the following words:- or electronic rendering.

SECTION 10. Said section 14 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 21, the word “facsimile”.

SECTION 11. Section 22 of said chapter 185C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “docket”, in line 4, the following words:- , including the electronic docket.

SECTION 12. Section 3A of chapter 212 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “signed”, in line 4, the following words:- , by hand or by electronic means,.

SECTION 13. Section 26 of said chapter 212, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following words:- The records of courts, including electronic records, which are transferred to the superior court shall remain in custody of the clerks, whether in physical or electronic form.

SECTION 14. Said section 26 of said chapter 212, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “seal”, in line 8, the following words:- , which may be electronically imprinted,.

SECTION 15. Section 36 of chapter 215 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the words “books kept therefor”, in line 6, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- books or electronically.

SECTION 16. Said section 36 of said chapter 215, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “process”, in line 16, the following words:- or electronically.

SECTION 17. Section 53 of said chapter 215, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “documents”, in line 4, the following words:- , whether in physical or electronic form,.

SECTION 18. Section 15 of chapter 217 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “papers”, in line 2, the following words:- , whether in physical or electronic form,.

SECTION 19. Section 26 of said chapter 217, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “signing”, in line 1, the following words:- or electronic rendering.

SECTION 20. Section 2A of chapter 218 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “papers”, in line 6, the following words:- , whether in physical or electronic form,.

SECTION 21. Section 12 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “papers”, in line 10, the following words:- , whether in physical or electronic form,.

SECTION 22. Section 13 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “kept”, in line 3, the following words:- in the trial court electronic document management system or.

SECTION 23. Section 14 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “facsimile”, in lines 7 and 12, in each instance, the following words:- or electronic rendering.

SECTION 24. Said section 14 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 8, the word “facsimile”.

SECTION 25. Said section 14 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the words “Said facsimile”, in line 13, and inserting in place thereof the following word:- Such.

SECTION 26. Section 44 of said chapter 218, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “signed”, in line 2, the following words:- by hand or electronically.

SECTION 27. Section 14 of chapter 221 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “papers”, in line 4, the following words:- , whether in physical or electronic form,.

SECTION 28. Section 17 of said chapter 221, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the word “A”, in line 1, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- An authorized electronic rendering or a.

SECTION 29. Section 20 of chapter 223 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “signed”, in line 2, the following words:- , by hand or by electronic means,.

SECTION 30. Section 6 of chapter 248 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “signed”, in line 2, the following words:- , by hand or electronically,.

SECTION 31. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for cases that are electronically filed in any state court in the commonwealth, any statutory requirement of a written signature on a document to be filed, or any statutory requirement of a written signature in communications between the court and a party, shall be satisfied if the document includes a signature in a form authorized by the supreme judicial court, the appeals court, the trial court or any department of the trial court.

SECTION 32. To meet the expenditures necessary in carrying out section 2, the state treasurer shall, upon request of the governor, issue and sell bonds of the commonwealth in an amount to be specified by the governor, but not exceeding in the aggregate $94,000,000. All such bonds issued by the commonwealth, shall be designated on their face, Judiciary Information Technology and Innovation Act of 2022, and shall be issued for a maximum term of years, not exceeding 5 years, as the governor may recommend to the general court pursuant to section 3 of Article LXII of the Amendments to the Constitution. The bonds shall be payable not later than June 30, 2032. All interest and payments on account of principal on these obligations shall be payable from the General Fund. Bonds and interest thereon issued pursuant to this section shall, notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, be general obligations of the commonwealth.

SECTION 33. To meet the expenditures necessary in carrying out section 2A, the state treasurer shall, upon request of the governor, issue and sell bonds of the commonwealth in an amount to be specified by the governor, but not exceeding in the aggregate $35,000,000. All such bonds issued by the commonwealth shall be designated on their face, Judiciary Information Technology and Innovation Act of 2022, and shall be issued for a maximum term of years, not exceeding 5 years, as the governor may recommend to the general court pursuant to section 3 of Article LXII of the Amendments to the Constitution. The bonds shall be payable not later than June 30, 2032. All interest and payments on account of principal on these obligations shall be payable from the General Fund. Bonds and interest thereon issued pursuant to this section shall, notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, be general obligations of the commonwealth.

SECTION 34. To meet the expenditures necessary in carrying out section 2B, the state treasurer shall, upon request of the governor, issue and sell bonds of the commonwealth, in an amount to be specified by the governor, but not exceeding in the aggregate $35,000,000. All such bonds issued by the commonwealth shall be designated on their face, Judiciary Information Technology and Innovation Act of 2022, and shall be issued for a maximum term of years, not exceeding 5 years, as the governor may recommend to the general court pursuant to section 3 of Article LXII of the Amendments to the Constitution. The bonds shall be payable not later than June 30, 2032. All interest and payments on account of principal on these obligations shall be payable from the General Fund. Bonds and interest thereon issued pursuant to this section shall, notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, be general obligations of the commonwealth.

SECTION 35. Sections 3 to 31, inclusive, shall take effect 90 days after the effective date of this act.