Title
District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, and Information Technologies recommending the Board approve and authorize the continuation of perpetual agreements with Karpel Solutions for the Karpel Case Management System.
FUNDING: General Fund.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
In accordance with Board Policy Number C-17, departments are required to obtain authorization from the Board of Supervisors to utilize any contract that does not have a stated contract term on an annual basis. The District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, and Information Technologies are recommending the Board approve and authorize the continuation of the perpetual agreements with Karpel Solutions for the Karpel Case Management Systems.
In April 2019, The Board of Supervisors approved the replacement of existing case management systems for the District Attorney’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office, moving to a consolidated, single database cash management system by Karpel Solutions, which is able to provide a comprehensive, modern system able to meet the business needs of both departments.
The District Attorney’s Office has implemented Prosecutor by Karpel, a case management system that allows statewide data sharing, automated workflow, in-court processing screens, evidence training, case reporting, and 24-hour support. The District Attorney’s Agreement #4038 has an anticipated annual program support cost of $50,500.
The Public Defender’s Office has implemented Defender by Karpel, a case management system that includes automated workflow, in-court processing screens, streamlined workload management, comprehensive case management and reporting tools, and investigator requests and assignments. The Public Defender’s Agreement #4040 has an anticipated annual program support cost of $11,200.
Information Technologies viewed the implementation of Karpel as a sustainable long-term solution that would allow the retirement of three home-grown applications (ACES, Gabriel, and eSubpoena) that were at end-of-life, plus one vendor system that was unable to meet the current needs of the District Attorney’s Office. Karpel’s system functions within the County’s current infrastructure, reduces onsite resource data consumption, and allows for data sharing, which reduces redundant data entry and storage. Karpel would also take responsibility for maintaining industry standards in regard to technology, legislative changes, and security, and would provide training and system support.
Information Technologies has perpetual hosting Agreement #4072 with Karpel to provide access to users of Prosecution by Karpel and Defender by Karpel. The hosting fees associated with this hosting agreement are paid as part of the annual program support costs invoiced to the District Attorney and the Public Defender. Information Technologies is not charged anything directly under Agreement #4072. However, this agreement covers the technical requirements for hosting, storage space, web services, maintenance, data retention and back-ups, and security.
Any future changes to the terms and conditions of these perpetual Karpel agreements will be brought to the Board for approval. The continuation of Karpel agreements #4038, #4040, and #4072 is recommended based on the high quality product and support provided for the Karpel Case Management systems.
ALTERNATIVES
If the Board does not approve this item, the County will lose the hosting and support agreements for the District Attorney’s and Public Defender’s case management systems.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
Legistar Item 19-0213: This item approved the execution of the original agreements for the Karpel Prosecutor Module and the Karpel Defender Module, including the purchase of both modules, data conversion, installation, training, and the first year of maintenance costs. This item also included budget transfers to cover the program costs for Fiscal Year 18/19. As the implementations of both Modules were completed in Fiscal Year 19/20, both departments returned to the Board to make the appropriate budget transfer appropriations for Fiscal Year 19/20. The District Attorney’s budget transfer was approved on Legistar Item 19-1876, and the Public Defender’s budget transfer was approved on Legistar Item 20-0022.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The anticipated cost for the District Attorney’s annual program support services is $50,500. The anticipated cost for the Public Defender’s annual program support is $11,200. Funding is, and will be, included in each fiscal year budget, including the remainder of Fiscal Year 2019-20 and Fiscal Year 2020-21 to accommodate on-going use of the Prosecutor and Defender case management systems by Karpel. The current budgets for both departments have sufficient funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. Amounts for FY 2020-21 have been included in the departments' Recommended Budget requests.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Infrastructure
CONTACT
Vern R. Pierson, District Attorney
Teri Monterosso, Public Defender
Tonya Digiorno, Director of IT