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National Tribal Court Technology & Case Management Conference
National Tribal Justice Resource Center
August 5-8, 2001
Boulder, CO - Millenium Hotel

The National American Indian Court Judges Association's Annual Meeting and Conference was held in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan this past September 15-18, 2002, at the Kewadin Casino and Resorts. Aptly enough, this year's conference theme was entitled, "Strengthening Tribal Justice Systems: Practice, Policy and Partnership. The National Tribal Justice Resource Center, in the spirit of "partnership" hosted an "RFP (Request for Proposal) Development Workshop and Court Technology Vendor Exposition" at the Michigan event. The workshop and vendor expo took place on September 16-17, 2002, as components of the larger NAICJA annual conference agenda.

In addition, the workshop and vendor expo were also offered as integral parts of the BJA Tribal Court grantee orientation and training also held in conjunction with the NAICJA meeting. The training was the first of three mandatory trainings for 58 tribal grantees under the U.S. department of Justices, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice's Tribal Court Assistance Program. BJA tribal court planning, implementation and enhancement grantees attended training and orientation sessions organized by a number of BJA tribal court technical assistance and training providers including: NAICJA's National Tribal Justice Resource Center, Fox Valley Technical College, Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, National Judicial College, Northern Plains Tribal Judicial College and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

Basically, the Workshop and the Vendor Expo formed the common bond or overlap between the other two events, to allow the Resource Center to target both groups. This year's Exposition and Workshop offered much to all who attended�if not for the materials it presented and the opportunities to meet vendors, than for the opportunities to network with peers and colleagues from across the country.

The Expo was designed to allow tribal court personnel to meet and personally speak with technology vendor representatives and to see their wares "live". Furthermore, vendors had the opportunity to visit with tribal court staff that they normally may not have had the chance to call upon -- due to the fact that there are so many tribal courts nationwide and the fact that it's a market that many technology vendors are unfamiliar with. The cost savings to both tribes and vendors who did not have to make individual trips to see one another were significant. But, more importantly, the expo provided tribal courts and justice systems with the chance to "kick a few tires" and to find a vendor, or a few vendors, who might have the type of court technology product that is most appropriate for the justice systems they operate. Many times, tribes have not had much success at locating appropriate vendors and, as a result, end up spending their precious and limited funds on a product that is far more sophisticated than they need or, worse yet, does not have the capacity to properly handle their needs.

This year's expo vendors included:

The Exposition in Sault Ste. Marie also provided a reception with many door prize drawings. This year, CX Corporation donated a Civil Court Case Management System, server and 5 workstation licenses valued at $15,000. Crow Nation Tribal Court won the grand prize. Overall, our generous vendors donated over 60 door prizes - prizes included a web cam, stereo system, shirts and much more!

The vendor exposition was a complementary component to the "Court Technology Request For Proposal (RFP) Development Workshop hosted by the Resource Center. The major component was the Workshop itself, which was designed to provide tribal justice personnel with the basic tools to make the right purchasing decisions. Even for tribes that do not have a formal bid and solicitation policy in place, the goal was to give participants the skills needed to be more aware and savvy consumers. The workshop, while only three hours in length, was designed to be both an introduction to and a summary of the RFP process. Using the case management system as an example, major topics covered included: the procurement process; pros and cons of using an RFP; identifying project goals and objectives; system requirements, functionalities and other considerations; security issues; transition and implementation issues; and management and administrative concerns.