Clerk Recognized for Mobile App Development

On July 13, 2012, the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court’s Office received two Best Practices Awards from the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials, and Clerks (NACRC).  The NACRC Best Practices Award is a unique opportunity for NACRC members to receive special recognition in honor of their unique achievements and Best Practices in their respective fields.

The Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court received the “Election Administration Best Practices Award” for its development of a mobile app and JeffClerk Alerts, which make it more convenient to retrieve election results on election night, and the “Court Administration/Clerk to Board Best Practices Award” for its mobile app and JeffClerk Alerts which make it easier for the general public and legal community to interact with the clerk’s office.

Says NACRC President Jack Arrowsmith, “I congratulate this year’s winners for their innovation. One of the most effective ways to advance our professional standards is by developing best practices that we can all share and implement in our own jurisdictions.”

“Throughout my years as clerk of court, I’ve been committed to transforming the way we operate to improve the services we provide to the citizens, the courts and the legal community,” said Jon Gegenheimer.  “We will continue to be citizen-centric, and to apply emergent technologies to increase operational efficiencies and ensure a transparent, accountable, and productive office dedicated to superior customer service.  I am humbled by the recognition from NACRC and its appreciation for our innovations.”

In an ongoing effort to improve services and to make doing business with the clerk of court’s office easier, Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court Jon Gegenheimer in 2011 established new methods to enhance and streamline the retrieval of election results.  JeffClerk Alerts and an Elections Mobile App, available anytime anywhere to citizens with smart phones (iPhones, Androids, and BlackBerries) or tablets such as iPads, are easy-to-use services available at no charge, where citizens may enhance their experience and interaction with the elections process.  These technology initiatives recognize that more and more people use mobile devices to get news and information.  Citizens no longer need a television or a desktop or even a laptop computer to retrieve real-time election results.

The clerk’s Attorney’s Toolbox Mobile App is available for users to access tools helpful to them when filing documents.  The apps are available anytime and anywhere to citizens with smart phones (iPhones, Androids, and BlackBerries) or tablets such as iPads.  The app includes forms, fees, department contacts, locations and inter-active docket calendars for all divisions.  The docket calendars provide date of activity, type of case, case title and type, and a description of the scheduled event.  Attorneys wishing to determine how much time they will need to spend at the courthouse for a particular matter now may consult the calendar to see how active the day’s docket is for the division in which they are scheduled to conduct business.

About the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks (NACRC).  NACRC is a national association of elected and appointed county administrative officials. The association has approximately 500 members, consisting of elected and appointed county, parish, and town officials and their staffs, as well as private companies providing their offices with products and services. NACRC is managed by IMI Association Executives, a Morrisville, North Carolina-based association management firm. For more information, visit its website, www.nacrc.org.

On October 10, the Jefferson Parish Council congratulated Gegenheimer and the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court’s Office, for the NACRC honors.

In September, the mobile apps and JeffClerk Alerts were recognized as a “Bright Idea” by the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. Harvard’s “Bright Ideas” program identifies and commends those public agencies that meet government’s challenges with creative technological solutions.

“Government innovation does not require endless resources and generous budgets,” said Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in Government Program at the Ash Center. “As exemplified by this year’s Bright Ideas, some of our country’s smartest innovations can in fact reduce government’s size while serving our citizens more efficiently and effectively.”

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