eService Center - Administrative Office of the Courts

What tasks should be completed by the end of the year?

Year-End Task Reminders recommended by the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) are listed below for each court level. Tasks listed can be completed prior to the end of the year.  Some tasks listed may have already been completed or do not need to be done annually, depending on the court and task.

Review the Type of Task Chart indicating  for your court level and click the link in the Table of Contents below:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Accounting (Accounting for Superior Court (JIS Legacy) and Accounting for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)
• Calendars (Superior Courts and Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)
• Caseload Reporting (Superior Courts and Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)
• Court Closed Days (Superior Courts and Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)
• Court Contact Information (All Court Levels)
• Court Moving in Future?  (All Court Levels)
• Miscellaneous Administrative Tasks (Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)
• Security/Authority (All Court Levels)
• JCS Zooms (Juvenile Departments Only)

Accounting (Accounting for Superior Court (JIS Legacy) and Accounting for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)

NOTE:  Normal End of Day/Month Accounting procedures should be followed on the last business day of the year.  Please review the court level specific instructions located in the online manual page:  Superior Court End of Day/Month and CLJ End of Day/Month 

1. Review the County Department Cross Reference Table (DCXT screen) entries to be sure they are up-to-date, as DCXT entries affect how the Remittance Report looks. Request a DCXT Report from AOC Customer Services: use New Support Ticket and select Topics: JIS Accounting. Enter your request in the Description of issue area and click Submit.
     
2. Process Escheat Unclaimed Property (before November 1st):
   
    See Procedure for escheating unclaimed property
3. Run the Accounts Receivable Detail Report and retain a copy for the auditor (JIS Legacy Accounting Superior Court).
4. Run the Time Pay Aged, Time Pay Summary, and Non-Time Pay Aged and Summary reports and retain a copy for the auditor (Courts of Limited Jurisdiction).

NOTE: Odyssey Case Manager reports have features such as "As of Date" or "Date File Range" parameter options. This allows historical data to be queried on demand by the Clerk which then produces reports for the specified dates or ranges.  Because of this feature, it is optional to run a report, such as Fees Receivable, at the end of the year.  All reports generated can be saved electronically rather than printed on paper.     

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Calendars (Superior Courts and Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)

The beginning of the year is a good time to start using new calendaring codes.  Review your current list of Calendar Codes to see if any need to be updated, added or deleted.

Courts of Limited Jurisdiction:
Courts of Limited Jurisdiction can request a copy of their list by sending a request to Customer Services by using New Support Ticket and selecting Topics: JIS Case Management/BIT Reporting. Enter your request in the Description of issue area (including the print domain to which you would like to have the report sent), and click Submit. 

• Changes can be made by anyone with Administrative Authority for your court by using the HRT, HRTA, and HRTD Commands.
    
• See also:
  Changing recipients for notification of hearings.
   Printing the officer's name on the DISCIS court calendar.
    
• Review the JIS Code Manual for Hearing Type Codes prior to making changes. Make sure the code you are using is appropriate for the case type you want to set on the calendar.
    
• Remember that selecting Y to List All Parties will include the names of Victims on your printed Calendar.

Superior Courts:
Any request for new hearing types must go through AOC. Superior Court should review Resource lists on a yearly basis or as needed. To request new hearing types or to remove a Resource listed for your court, contact AOC Customer Services using New Support Ticket and selecting Topics: Superior Court Program. Enter your request in the Description of issue area.

1. All Court Levels:
   Are all of your court's cases processed that will affect your monthly and yearly statistics?
     
2. Superior Courts and Courts of Limited Jurisdiction:
     
   1. Try to get all cases for your court processed before the end of the year, especially DUI type cases, as these cases can affect your annual statistics.
        
   2. For more information about your court level's statistical requirements, please review the following sections of the Online Manual:
      
      • Caseload Report (CLJ).
      • DUI Reports (Courts of Limited Jurisdiction).
      • Superior Court Statistical Reporting Manual.
          
   3. For more information about understanding or running Caseload Reports, see the Court Resources/Caseloads  page of the Inside Courts Web site.
3. Courts of Limited Jurisdiction:
   Check to make sure your Hearings Held (HRH) screen has been completed for each court date so all hearings are counted in your annual Caseload Report.
   
   There is a BIT report available in the CLJ Statewide folder titled HRH - Previous Month proceedings that remain in scheduled status. The report returns dates and hearings in scheduled status from the previous month.
   
   HINT: Copy the report to your local folder to modify it in order to check the previous months. This query can also be scheduled to run monthly, to prevent future year-end checks. For information on scheduling BIT queries to run automatically, see eService Answer- Schedule BIT Query to BI Inbox.
     
4. Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Superior Courts, and Courts of Limited Jurisdiction:
   See Caseload Reports on the Washington Courts Web site.                                                                                                                    

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Court Closed Days (Superior Courts and Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)

Check to see if you have your Court Closed Days set up for the new year.

• Superior Courts: Court Closed Days for Superior Courts is handled in JRS. Check the days in the JRS Court Closed Days Table.
    
• Courts of Limited Jurisdiction:  Review the Court Closed Days (CCD) screen in JIS.

Please Note: Default closed dates are provided in JIS through 2025; however, you must "Accept" the dates in order for them to take effect. If the default dates are not "Accepted", they will not take effect and you will be allowed to set hearings on dates that should be closed. Please see the following answers for troubleshooting assistance:

 JIS allows hearings on Court Closed Days.

 JIS allows hearings on a Court Closed Day, even though CCD was completed.

For information on the Washington State Court Closed dates and legal authority regarding closures, please see the Court Closing Days page of the Washington Courts Web site.

For emergency court closure procedures, please see the Court Resources/Court Closures page of the Inside Courts Web site.                                                            

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Court Contact Information (All Court Levels)

Have you verified that your information is correct in the online Court Directories that AOC maintains for the courts (http://inside.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=directories.cd and for the public (http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/)?  The court address, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and authorized callers should be current with the AOC and on your staffs' OFO records.

1. Check your Court’s OFO record to make sure the phone number, address and e-mail address are correct.  Any changes should be reported to AOC Customer Services by using New Support Ticket and selecting Topics: JIS Case Management/BIT Reporting.  Enter the changes in the Description of issue area and click Submit.
     
2. Make sure your Court’s listing in the on-line Court Directory also has the correct information.  To submit corrections to the AOC, use the Washington Court Directory Person Change Form at the "click here" link near the top of the Court Directory page on the Inside Courts Web site. This form is used to update information on both the Public and Inside Courts Court Directories.
     
3. Ask staff and judges to update their eService Center account if their contact information has changed.

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Court Moving in Future?  (All Court Levels)

If your court will be moving in the coming months, you will need to plan ahead with the AOC to ensure timely JIS connectivity in your new location, along with updated court information.  Please review the following tasks:

1. Relocations require coordination and advance planning with the AOC.  The AOC needs a minimum of eight weeks advanced notice so that connectivity can be established for your new location.  Please refer to the JIS General Policies section of the Inside Courts Web site.  Specifically JIS General Policy 8: New Court or County Clerk Facilities.
     
2. When you have completed your move, please notify the AOC with your updated address and phone numbers.  Use the New Support Ticket link in the eService Center for requesting updates to your Court’s Official/Organization (OFO) record.  Select Topics: JIS Case Management/BIT Reporting, enter your old and new information in the Description of issue area, and click Submit.
     
3. Request an update to the online Court Directory from the Washington Court Directory Person Change Form page of the Inside Courts Web site. Information from this form is also used by the AOC to update any affected AOC-managed e-mail ListServs and mailing labels for AOC publications.
     
4. While you are logged in at the eService Center, go to the Check Ticket Status section and update your profile if needed. This will enable AOC staff to contact you or your secondary contact person when needed.  Please have all staff members, including Judges, update their information, especially for those members who are Authorized Callers for requesting support from AOC Customer Services.

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Miscellaneous Administrative Tasks (Courts of Limited Jurisdiction)

• Officer Maintenance
  
  • If you haven't checked your Officer List in the last year, a good practice would be to request a copy and review it for needed changes.  You can request a copy of your Officer List from AOC Customer Services by using New Support Ticket and selecting Topics: JIS Case Management/BIT Reporting.  In the Description of issue area, please advise if you would prefer to have the report run for All Officers for your Court, or for Officers for an LEA, and which print domain into which you would prefer to have the report placed for you to view or print.
  • Then click Submit.

If you are unsure of all LEAs attached to your court, request either:
  

• Officer List for All Officers for your Court (officers are listed grouped by LEA), or
  
• An LEA List from AOC first.
  

• Changes to OFO Records are made by the courts.  Please review the on-line Manual for Law Enforcement Officer Records.
  
• Please also review: Officer Badge Numbers - changing, reassigning, reinstating, removing End Effective Date.
  
• Law Table:
  Do your staff and the LEAs for your court have the most current law table entries? There are three ways to obtain a current law tables:
  
  • Detailed version of the Statewide Law Table:

• Access the Court Resources/Court Management page of the Inside Courts Web site. At the top of the page is the Law Tables section and it provides detailed versions of the Statewide Law Table in both PDF and Excel formats, for each court level.  The Law Tables include all currently effective entries for the court level, sorted by law number. See Getting a copy of the detailed statewide law table list for more information.
  
  • Summary version of the Bail Schedule using the MRS Command in JIS:
• For detailed instructions on preparing this report, see the Law List (Bail Schedule) Report (Court of Limited Jurisdiction) section of the Online Manual.
  
  • Request AOC to send a Summary version of the Bail Schedule to your print domain:
    
    Send your request to AOC Customer Services by using New Support Ticket and selecting Topics: JIS Case Management/BIT Reporting.   In the Description of issue area, please include the following information:

• If you would like only your court’s Laws, your court and Statewide Laws, or All Courts Laws.
  
• If you want ONLY current laws, or if you would like a listing that includes Laws for all dates.
  
• If you would like the Bail Schedule in Alphabetic Order, Numeric Order, or one of each.
  
• Include the print domain into which you would to have the Bail Schedules placed for printing.

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Security/Authority (All Court Levels)

Security Issues to Review:

Did staff members, judges, or commissioners leave your court's employment during the year?

• Go into the person's Authorization screen (ATH command ), remove the RACF ID from the screen and press Enter.
• Use the Authorization Delete screen (ATHD command) to delete JIS security for each staff member no longer with the court, once the above steps have been completed.

• On the Official and Organization Person Record (OFO) screen for each staff member no longer with the court, enter the appropriate End-Effective Date.
  
  1. The online manual Officials & Organizations contains complete instructions, screen samples, and demonstrations of adding, removing, and reinstating official records in JIS.
       
• From the RACFADMN application on the TPX Menu:
  
  1. Delete the RACF ID for each staff member no longer with the court (Only once the ATH step has been completed).
  2. The online manual RACF Administration (RACFADMN) contains complete instructions, screen samples, and demonstrations on using the RACF Administration application.
  3. Print and review the Site User List.
       

• Request an Active User List from the AOC Customer Services using New Support Ticket and select Topics: JIS Case Management/BIT Reporting. Enter your request in the Description of issue area, including the Print Domain into which you wish to have the report sent, and click Submit.
    
• Compare the Active User List from AOC with the Site User List you printed above.  The lists should match.  If names appear for staff members who are no longer employed by the court, follow the procedures above to remove their security and authority access to JIS, as well as deleting their RACF ID. (See Processing instructions when a person leaves court employment.)
    

Did new staff members, judges, or commissioners join your court during the year?

• To get a RACF ID for a new judge, commissioner, or staff member, or to assign a staff member to the Site Coordinator Role, notify the AOC using the Manage User IDs request form from the Inside Courts Web site.  See Requesting a new User ID.
• Once the RACF ID has been requested for a new judge, commissioner, or staff member:
  
  1. Create a new OFO record for each person from the Official and Organization Person Records (OFO) screen.
     
  2. Create a security authorization for each person on the Authorization Add (ATHA) screen. Be sure to add the person's RACF ID on his/her ATH record or else any print job submissions made by the person will not go to the court's print domain.
     
  3. If the person is a Cashier or Accountant who will be receipting money, the Receipt Printer he/she will be using needs to be listed on his/her ATH record.
     
• To avoid Security and Authority issues later in the year for new judges and commissioners:
  
  1. Verify that they have authority to access the Judicial Access Browser System (JABS).  To do this, on the Authorization Overrides (ATHX) screen for each judge or commissioner, change the Authorization Type code from "S" (Screens) to "U" (Utilities), then type Y in the Override field next to the JABS code.
     
  2. Help each new judge or court commissioner set up a RACF password and JIS password (so he/she can access JABS).  Confirm that any staff member, judge, or court commissioner needing to use JABS is aware that he/she needs his/her three-letter Court Code (E.g. S99, EDC, etc.), his/her OFO Code (E.g. JG RRR - person type Judge + initials RRR), and his/her password to sign into the "inside" of JIS (not the password used together with the RACF ID when first accessing JIS). For assistance, see JABS User Security.
     
• Make sure that each staff member has the security he/she needs to perform his/her job:  Use the ATHX command to modify JIS security settings for a user, including adding his/her RACF ID or Receipt Printer to his/her record.
• If you have never added an official record or updated security for a court official, please review all of the instructional documents and demonstrations that are available within the specific topic sections of the Administrative Tasks online manual, prior to completing any of the tasks listed above.
• For a new appellate court judge or commissioner:
  Have an authorized ACORDS security staff member add the new judge or commissioner to ACORDS as a Court Official and User. See ACORDS Help: Add a New Court Official and the link at the bottom of that Help page to Manage ACORDS Users.
• Make sure new employees, judges, and court commissioners are aware of the Password Standards required to access JIS applications.  See Using password standards when logging into JIS.
• Make sure all court employees have signed a Confidentiality Agreement.
• See Oath of Office for judges, commissioners, criers, and bailiffs.
• Does your court have a current Site Coordinator who has adequate security and training to access the ATHX command to modify security settings for other users in your court?
  
  1. Your Site Coordinator can be given authority to do the above Security/Authority steps once his/her security has been updated.  See Site Coordinator's responsibilities. 
  2. Have them review all of the instructions and demonstrations that are available on the Officials and Organization topic, the About Security topic, as well as the JABS User Security topic prior to doing any security changes in JIS.

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JCS Zooms (Juvenile Departments Only)

Check your JCS Zooms to see if any changes need to be made.  Look for the following:

1. Are all the names spelled correctly?  Spelling changes can be made by authorized court staff by updating the OFO record. Changes take affect immediately.
2. Do you need any Officials or Organizations added or deleted? Additions and deletions to the Zooms can now be completed in JCS by using the Official Maintenance Screen (OFLUPD):
   
   To Delete:
   1. You must first verify that the person is not assigned to any open referrals.  If the person is attached to active referrals, you will NOT be able to remove his/her record using the Official Maintenance screen.
   2. Please review the JCS Help subject Maintain Responsible Officials/Units  for instructions on changing the Official/Unit on multiple Referrals.
   3. Once all active referrals are re-assigned, use the Official Maintenance screen to remove officials/organizations from the Zooms.
   4. Now go into JIS to complete the process.  You will need to End Effective Date the Officials/Organization (OFO) record, delete the person's authority, and delete his/her RACF ID:
        
      • Add the End Effective Date into the OFO record  of any Official or Organization to be deleted.
      • Delete the person's Authority using the ATHD command.
      • Delete the person's RACF ID using the RACFADMIN program, accessible from the TPX Menu of JIS.

To Add:

• You must first add a new OFO record for any Officials or Organizations to be added to the Zooms.  Use the  Official/Organizations Add (OFOA) screen in JIS to add officials/organizations.
  Note:  AOC must add School or School District OFO records.  To request the addition of a School or School District, use New Support Ticket and select Topics: JIS Case Management/BIT Reporting.  In the Description of issue area, enter the name of school and the school district. Then click Submit.
• Once the record is created in JIS, use the Official Maintenance screen in JCS to Add the Official or Organization to the appropriate Zoom(s).
• See also:  Adding responsible officials to the Responsible Official Zoom.

  3. Alerts Authorizing Officials - See JCS Alert Codes.

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RN id: 1688