Free online public records? The Indiana Supreme Court with the continued approval by Indiana legislators will cost cash strapped Hoosier taxpayers over $100 million to make public records “free” using their Odyssey internet based system supported by millions of dollars per year of tax consuming jobs and with no interface with the other 87 counties that already have a CMS.

Taxpayers did not have to pay for the doxpop.com system which has served the public since 2002 (pioneered by Monroe County). Rather, the private sector that benefits from public court information supports the total cost of development and the ongoing operations of the statewide doxpop.com public access system.

Fair Competition? There can be NO fair competition when the Indiana Supreme Court is allowed to continue to spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money every year in a deliberate effort to eliminate the competitive private sector marketplace in Indiana that has already provided Hoosier counties, the public and other state/federal agencies with a safe, secure and stable statewide system of court information with statewide sharing. Taxpayers in 87 counties have already paid for a statewide CMS supplied by the competitive private marketplace.

This tremendous taxpayer burden does not factor the additional cost and risks associated with an internet based system like the Indiana Supreme Court’s Odyssey internet based system. The Odyssey internet based system will increase the risk of exposing a person’s confidential personal and court information to unauthorized persons because local counties using the Odyssey internet based system must transact confidential information over the commercial internet system and store this information with the Indiana Supreme Court in Indianapolis, IN.

Also, who at the state level has access to view, update or even delete a county’s data that is stored by the Indiana Supreme Court in Indianapolis?

With the Supreme Court and judges trying to collect court data from every county in Indiana that includes a history of all juvenile and other confidential court records, is our system of blind justice a thing of the past?

When there is a security breach, loss of data or a shutdown that affects every county on the shared Odyssey internet based system, who will voters blame and hold responsible for any debacle? Will it be the locally elected leaders or the un-elected people at the State?

In 2006, House Bill 1304 co-sponsored by the Honorable Dick Dodge and Honorable Eric Koch with the endorsement of the Association of Indiana Counties would have provided a democratic voice and vote on the necessity to tax Hoosiers over $100 million for a risky, redundant and unnecessary replication of software to manage local trial court information. Unfortunately, democracy was denied.

And, Why? To get a system that was not and is still not ready for Indiana?