Georgia Council of Magistrate Court Judges Provides Statewide Self-Service Access for Self-Represented Litigants

Court chooses Tyler Technologies’ Guide & File solution to increase access to justice

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 JudgesJudge W. Allen Wigington, 706-253-8747President & Chief Magistrate JudgeorSharon Reiss, 404-463-4171Executive [e-mail] PR for Tyler TechnologiesTony Katsulos, 972-788-9456, ext. [e-mail]