Greer

The Highland County Juvenile and Probate courts recently received money for a systems upgrade thanks to Ohio Supreme Court and its technology grant program. According to the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Highland County Court of Common Pleas, Probate and Juvenile Divisions, received $55,578 from the 2023 Technology Grant Fund for a “new or major upgrade to a CMS including e-filing implementation.”

Judge Kevin Greer said the court’s computer vendor company recommended they upgrade the system every five years, and 2023 was the equipment’s five-year anniversary. He said that instead of going to the Highland County Board of Commissioners or using the local computer fund through the court, they would try to get money through the Ohio Supreme Court.

“It’s specifically for a whole new system, basically from our server to all the equipment that the employees use,” Greer said. “And, again, a minor part of it was to upgrade some programs to make us a little more efficient.”

Greer also said that when they wrote the grant, they said they needed new hardware to upgrade the system, as well as the inclusion of a “few” new programs that would modernize the programs for the probate and juvenile courts.

He also said that this is the second time the court has received money from the Supreme Court of Ohio. He said that they received money two years ago to do hearings remotely, with the money received “kind of” related to COVID-19.

“They help a lot of courts,” Greer said. “I looked, I don’t know if it was yesterday, sometime this week where I saw multiple courts received it. So, the Ohio Supreme Court has been very proactive in helping lower, especially trial courts, to help us do our job and to provide finances to do that. So, we appreciate it a great deal and they’ve been very active over the past several years helping a lot of courts try and become more efficient and effective in their services to the public.”

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.