The North Mesa Maricopa County Justice Court is getting tech savvy, utilizing a system called WaitWhile to monitor the number of defendants in their courtrooms.
Court Manager Tammy Habros implemented the new system in May 2021 to help with social distancing, and it has succeeded in its purpose.
Habros heard about WaitWhile attending the Limited Jurisdiction Court Administrators Association Meeting that happens quarterly. The Arizona Supreme Court had offered it to any court in the state that wanted to use it.
“If we can get people inside to see Judge (Kyle) Jones and still keep them socially distanced, then of course we will try it,” Habros said.
The system works as a QR code that defendants, who are attending court for arraignment hearings specifically, can scan with their phone.
That takes them to a website where they can register and reserve a spot in line; security is present to explain the process to ensure a smooth process.
Two texts are sent to the defendant, one is to inform them that they are next in line, and the second is to call them up to the front desk, according to Habros.
Staff members of the North Mesa Justice Court, such as Carrie Wynn, monitor an iPad that has the list of defendants that have registered, and allow them into the courthouse accordingly.
Wynn has found WaitWhile to be very beneficial for all parties involved saying, “Nobody has complained about the system, it is so easy to use, I want to keep it.”
Out of the 26 Maricopa County Justice Courts, the North Mesa precinct is the only one using it, Habros believes.
“If other courts have a need to have crowd control for their courtroom, I think it’d be very beneficial to use WaitWhile,” Habros said.
Scott Davis, Public Information Officer for the Maricopa County Justice Courts, said he has received interest from other courts around the county after seeing the success that North Mesa has had.
Habros said that WaitWhile is only for arraignment hearings because “they are the only type of hearing that is not scheduled by the court” and due to that “there is no structure to control the amount of people that may come in after being stopped by a police officer.”
Many defendants have found the process rather easy and quick.
“I just opened my camera on my phone, scanned the code, the link to the website immediately popped up and had me register, it took no more than a minute,” said Christina Miranda, after arriving for her arraignment hearing.
Habros said that if the number of people that are being seen in person continues after the pandemic, the system would “certainly be helpful to be able to control the amount of people coming in at a time.”
Habros especially hopes to further the system upgraded so that defendants can sign up for a specific date and time before they even arrive at the courthouse.
Comments