Editor Bill Girdner critiques, the Maine Judicial Branch’s revenue sharing arrangement with its technology vendor, Tyler Technologies. Under the agreement, the MJB obtains services from Tyler and in exchange shares revenue from court record searches. The result is disproportionately high fees for court users and those seeking what the court has deemed “public information.”
“In Maine the court bureaucracy is hiding behind a contract with a vendor that is onerous indeed, and should serve as a lesson to other state courts. I keep bringing it up in Maine because the judiciary’s deal is so bad. Public servants are getting into bed with a huge and highly profitable company and they are being abused.”
The full column can be found on Courthouse News Service Website (May 11, 2021):