Improving technology an issue for Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court candidates
Candidates for the Lake County's clerk of the circuit court office clashed Tuesday on whether technology available to consumers is up to snuff.
Republican incumbent Keith Brin, who is seeking a second term, said told the crowd at the Lake County Bar Association debate he has modernized the office, reduced spending and uses technology to provide 24-hour public access. Seventeen classifications of civil cases will be available by the end of the year, he said.
"We're getting there. We're going to be there. We're emerging as leaders in technology," he said of pending improvements. Those include a data exchange system with other entities, such as state offices, "to get data and information where it needs to go," he added.
However, Democratic challenger Erin Cartwright Weinstein, a family law attorney the past 12 years and former assistant state's attorney, said Lake County is lacking and needs fully functioning e-ticket pay, e-filing and record backup systems, as well as an efficient and properly trained staff.
"To say we're behind the times is an understatement," she said.
Cartwright Weinstein claimed the office has overspent on a technology consultant who hasn't delivered and suggested bringing in an alternative contractor that could quickly implement e-filing, for example.