It’s hard to forget the difficult days of the pandemic, when the world came to a screeching halt. Question was, “How does the Eighth Judicial District Court continue to operate?” Then Chief Judge Linda Marie Bell called upon her court executive and the assistant court administrator in charge of IT to implement a long-standing plan and software idea simmering in IT to become completely paperless court with electronic orders. That was the genesis of Orders in the Court (OIC). OIC’s first order was processed on April 13, 2020 at 1:38 p.m. in the afternoon by Judge Charles Hoskin; and the one millionth order was processed by Judge David Gibson Jr. on December 11 of this year at 7:59 a.m. The application enables judges to sign and enter orders around-the-clock, from almost anywhere in the world with Internet access.

At an all-judges meeting, District Court Chief Judge Jerry Wiese gave awards to Judge Charles Hoskin for the first OIC order and Judge David Gibson for the one millionth. He commended the entire bench for putting in the work at all hours of the day and night to reach one million.

“Topping the one million mark for electronic court orders in just over a few years is an accomplishment for which we are exceptionally proud. It clearly demonstrates how hard our judges are working outside of the courtrooms,” said Chief Judge Wiese.  “Court administration, IT and the entire court team really stepped-up during the pandemic to deliver and implement this revolutionary technology; and despite it being the worst of times, our District Court team delivered a gold lining that continues to drive efficiency.”

The Orders in the Court application was developed by the Eighth Judicial District Court’s own IT department . Justice Linda Marie Bell, who is now a Nevada Supreme Court Justice, was awarded the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) 2022 Impact of the Year Award for the project. The app streamlines the formerly time and paper intensive process to enable judges and staff to electronically receive, review, modify, sign, file and then serve court orders immediately. Orders can be completed from any location or device with Internet connection, including right in court. OIC cuts time and spares resources through elimination of back-and-forth, which improve timely justice outcomes.

“I’m very proud of the enormous efficiencies that resulted in the orders in the court application and being a part of the early testing, stated Judge Hoskin. “Our court and judges have always supported a culture that focuses on information technology advances not only because it’s our responsibility, but also because we are faced with significant caseloads per judge.