By Marty Trese, KnoxPages.com Managing Editor
MOUNT VERNON – Whether you are headed to Municipal Court to pay a traffic ticket, serve as a juror, or inquire about filing for a small claims judgment the court’s new website can provide useful information. The new site was unveiled last week. The old website was at least ten years old and it didn’t have many of the functions people expect to see.
Municipal Court Judge John Thatcher said, “This court has so many people coming from just everywhere. A lot of people need two things, they need to know how to find us and they want to know how to do business with us before they even get here. And they want to do as much business with us as they can before they have to be here.”
He decided the website needed an upgrade soon after taking over the Municipal Court bench last year. One of the biggest issues is making sure the court can be found. It’s located in the same building as the police department at the corner of Gay and Chestnut Streets on a one way street with inadequate signage. Thatcher wanted a map on the site so that anyone who came into town to do business with the court could look up the directions on their cellphone.
Among the prominent features on the home page are:
- A button where you can pay a traffic ticket online
- Ability to look up civil or criminal cases
- Daily case schedule
A screen shot of the Municipal Court’s new website
Sixty people a month are summoned for Municipal Court jury duty and they need to know every Thusday if they need to come in or not. The website takes care of that. When the court sends out the jury notices, the potential jurors are asked to submit answers to general questions and they can send a form back online which saves time during the voir dire process.
Thatcher hopes the website reduces the amount of phone calls that come in to the Court office with people asking questions about directions, court dates and jury service. The office is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and since many work during those hours, the website can help those with questions after hours.
The website also has the court’s new rules and procedures posted for attorneys and those who plan to represent themselves.
To access the site, visit MountVernonMunicipalcourt.org.
