EXCESSIVE CASE BACKLOGS AND EXTENDED TRIAL DELAYS PLAGUING OUR COURT SYSTEM SERIOUSLY THREATEN THE ABILITY OF THE COURTS TO FULFILL CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS. THESE PROBLEMS CAN BE VIEWED FROM A MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE, AS THEY CAN BE CONTROLLED BY DIRECT MANIPULATION OF INFORMATION FLOW AND OFFICE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES. MOST CURRENT COURT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ARE DERIVED FROM A DECENTRALIZED SYSTEM OF DIFFERENT FUNCTIONAL UNITS, EACH WITH VARYING NEEDS AND PROCEDURES. EACH DEPARTMENT GATHERS INFORMATION BY CASE WITHOUT ANY ATTEMPT AT AGGREGATE ANALYSIS. THUS DIVERSIFIED DATA ARE NOT READILY AVAILABLE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES. IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH COMPLEX COURT MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS, THE TRAINING OF PROFESSIONAL COURT ADMINISTRATORS AND THE APPLICATION OF SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT MODELS FROM THE BUSINESS FIELD, INCLUDING THE USE OF COMPUTERS, ARE A NECESSITY FOR THE COURTS. A COMPUTER IS A NATURAL PARTNER TO A WELL-CONSTRUCTED COURT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, BECAUSE IT OPERATES ONLY ON GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS AND PERFORMS FUNCTIONS ACCORDING TO THOSE INSTRUCTIONS ROUTINELY. IT FORMS THE BASIS FOR A RATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE PROVIDING A DEGREE OF EFFICIENCY WHICH CANNOT BE ATTAINED BY MANUAL OPERATIONS. A BRIEF LOOK IS PROVIDED AT APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF COURT OPERATIONS: DOCKET MANAGEMENT, CALENDAR CONTROL, ATTORNEY NOTIFICAITONS, MONITORING APPROACHING STATUTORY AND COURT DEADLINES, JURY MANAGEMENT, TYPING FUNCTIONS, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, CONDITIONAL SENTENCE MONITORING, DEFENDANT STATUS, COURT REPORTING, PARKING TICKETS, EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION, SYSTEMS ANALYSIS, TOTAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SYSTEMS, AND SIMULATION. EXPERIMENTS AND EFFORTS TO CREATE AUTOMATED COURT INFORMATION SYSTEMS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY RELIEVED THE COURTS OF SOME OF THE BURDENS OF BACKLOG AND DELAY WHEN PROPERLY ADMINISTERED, AND HAVE INDICATED THAT LONG-TERM SAVINGS WILL ALSO BE REALIZED. (RCB)