THIS 1977 EVALUATION, BASED ON INFORMATION RELATIVE TO TRIAL COURTS, BEGAN WITH A LITERATURE SEARCH TO IDENTIFY BOTH ISSUES AND SITES OF OPERATING INFORMATION SYSTEMS. RESEARCHERS THEN CONDUCTED STRUCTURED TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS WITH PERSONNEL OF 65 TRIAL COURTS, 10 REGIONAL LEAA COURTS, AND 24 STATE COURTS AND JUSTICE PLANNING OFFICES. SITE VISITS WERE MADE TO 13 COURTS. INFORMATION WAS COLLECTED ON COURT INFORMATION SYSTEM FUNCTIONS IN CASE FLOW MANAGEMENT, COURT ROOM ASSIGNMENT, PERSONNEL DATA PROCESSING, JURY SELECTION, CASE SCHEDULING, DOCKETING, PRISONER INVENTORY, AND WARRANT AND SUMMONS CONTROL. TIME AND COST REQUIREMENTS WERE ALSO EXAMINED. IN GENERAL, THE ASSESSMENT REVEALS THAT COURT INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARE OPERATING BUT ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF EVOLVING INTO USEFUL, INTEGRAL PARTS OF NORMAL COURT OPERATIONS. WHILE THEIR POTENTIAL FOR REDUCING THE AVERAGE TIME FOR DISPOSITIONS, IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF JUSTICE, AND ENHANCING THE COURT'S PUBLIC IMAGE APPEARS TO BE SUBSTANTIAL, THERE HAS BEEN INSUFFICIENT EVALUATION TO CONCLUSIVELY DETERMINE THEIR EFFECTS. HOWEVER, SUCH SYSTEMS ARE INCREASING BOTH IN NUMBERS AND COMPLEXITY AND PLAY SIGNIFICANT ROLES IN JURISDICTIONS IN WHICH THEY ARE USED. (FCW)