Summit County officials pleased with new Virtual Courtroom, say it 'just makes sense'

When a Macedonia man decided on the afternoon before his trial to take a plea deal, a deputy walked him to a new video room at the Summit County Jail.

William Lupica, who is accused of sexually assaulting and secretly videotaping several children, had a hearing via Zoom in which he pleaded guilty to 13 felonies.

Minutes later, a deputy escorted Lupica back to his jail cell.

Lupica’s plea, which was accomplished without him having to be transported from the jail to the courthouse, shows how Summit County’s new Virtual Courtroom works.

“We set that up late in the day,” said Ken Teleis, who supervises the technology in Summit County Common Pleas Court. “We made sure we had the staff to get [Lupica] in there. That’s a perfect example of how that can work very well.”

The $12 million project involved technology upgrades to the Summit County Jail and courthouse, as well as other local law enforcement agencies, to more easily facilitate high-quality videoconferencing. The bulk of the funding came from federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding.

More: Modern justice: Summit County invests in efficient ways to connect inmates with courts

The project took longer than expected and wasn’t without its challenges, with court and county officials realizing, for example, that more employees were needed to serve as liaisons between the court and the jail.

Still, for all its challenges, the effort was completed in late September, with court and jail employees using it the past few weeks during judges' weekly call-days in which they get updates on the cases on their dockets, as well as in other hearings.

County and court officials say the updates will save time and money and improve safety for deputies, court staff and inmates.

“The pandemic challenged us to be adaptable, and this recognition helped us discover different avenues to best serve our residents,” Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro said in a recent news release. “Between attorneys, inmates and their families, and our court and jail staff, so many people are affected by the criminal justice system. Investing in technology that allows us to be safer and more efficient just makes sense.”

Biggest expenditure was link to Fairlawn's high-speed internet

The biggest expenditure — at about $6.5 million — went to having FairlawnGIG, a municipal broadband utility, bring its high-speed fiber network through West Akron and connect 13 criminal justice entities around the county.

That connection was completed by the end of 2020.

The project also included updates in Summit County Common Pleas courtrooms, many that had little or severely outdated technology before the pandemic.

The courtrooms now have multiple, large-screen televisions, microphones and cameras, and a software system that allows the judge to control everything and patch in people who aren't in court.

“It’s like flying a plane,” Judge Tammy O’Brien joked in March 2022 as she demonstrated the technology that she was then still mastering.

At the jail, videoconferencing booths have been installed in each housing pod. Phones near each booth allow inmates to easily talk to their attorneys.

When inmates have hearings, a deputy walks them from their pod to the booth, then returns them after it’s complete.

This saves a lot of time, especially compared to the pre-pandemic process that involved inmates being shackled, transported to the jail for judges’ call days, and then driven back to the jail after hearings that often lasted only minutes.

Now, inmates are still being taken from the jail to the courthouse but only for important hearings, such as on motions to suppress and trials.

New technology bailiffs help with Virtual Court

During the tail end of the project, court and county officials realized that more employees were needed to make the process work.

Sheriff Kandy Fatheree, who already has been struggling with a deputy shortage, told them she wouldn’t be able to hire deputies quickly enough within the time frame they had in mind.

The court instead hired one supervisor and seven technology bailiffs who communicate with court staff about when an inmate is ready, start the Zoom meeting and make sure the connection is working. The new bailiffs also print out any forms that an inmate needs to fill out, scan the completed forms and forward them to the court.

The sheriff’s office is paying for the new employees.

Special scheduling software was created to help the court and jail keep track of the many hearings. The county contracted with e-Data Experts, a company in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that created similar software for the Pennsylvania prison system.

Teleis, who is the assistant executive officer for Summit County Common Pleas Court, said the software has made it easy to arrange hearings and communicate back and forth with the court about any issues. For example, he said, a technology bailiff can type in an angry face icon to show that an inmate refused to leave his or her cell to attend a hearing.

Teleis said the software allows two inmates at once to be in a Zoom hearing, such as a virtual sentencing that Judge Kathryn Michael had this week for Durell and Jameir McDowell, cousins who were among three men charged in a double shooting in Cuyahoga Falls. He said this would not have been possible with the technology the jail had prior to the upgrade.

Teleis thinks the Virtual Court has so far worked very well, though some things are still being optimized, such as trying to improve the sound quality in each videoconferencing booth. He thinks Summit County is fortunate compared to many other counties that don’t have this advanced of a system.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way it’s come together and seeing people work together,” Teleis said. “I count my blessings every day.”

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Virtual Courtroom links Summit courts and jail, saving time and money