Court Administrators and their staffs face many issues today that did not exist only a few short years ago. The Internet and the ease of access to information that it has brought is driving the requirement for courts to move more and more into the realm of Electronic courts (E-Courts). E-Courts must be able to satisfy the wants, needs, and demands of not only the traditional court clientele (attorneys) but the general public and Law Enforcement Agencies as well. Access to court information, court forms, court processes; all must be made more accessible and available 24 hours a day. These issues and many others line the path leading to becoming an Electronic Court.

The Alabama courts and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) have been moving toward E-Court status for the last 4 years. Several developmental steps have been taken toward this goal, one of which was the implementation of a full electronic linkage for information sharing between the sentencing body (court) and the Department of Corrections (DOC).

Timely and accurate communication is a commodity of high importance.especially when dealing with the detaining, release or transfer of an inmate. Alabama's Trial Courts commit thousands of inmates to the custody of the state's Department of Corrections for confinement.

Traditionally, a defendant is sentenced and then turned over to the DOC for execution of the sentence. The official, paper copy of the court transcript and sentencing would follow, often very much later. This would often result in no record or incomplete records in the DOC information system.