Revenue Discovery Systems Awards Smart Government Honor To Limestone County
Revenue Discovery Systems (RDS) announced recently that its inaugural Smart Government Award recipient in the public private partnership category is Limestone County, which was selected for its efforts to reduce resource use. The awards were developed to recognize municipalities, counties, and state agencies that are taking innovative steps to enhance growth, create cost savings and provide environmental benefits.
The 39th District Court and Limestone County Jail now utilizes video and document management technology to conduct remote electronic hearings, a practice that eliminates the need for transport of prisoners to hearings and reduces manpower and transportation costs to the county.
The county deployed technology by Cabinet NG and Cisco Systems which allows new prison inmates' preliminary trial hearings to be electronically conducted with the judge. The system also allows for safe and secure transfer of documents by the Sherriff's Office and electronic signature by judges.
"This is an outstanding example of how public and private partnerships have come together to provide a technology solution that is reducing costs for county services. It is our pleasure to present the Smart Government award to Limestone County and its officials," says Kennon Walthall, president of RDS.
"With regional, county and local government budgets being cut, counties such as Limestone are looking at ways to reduce labor costs, vehicles and the time needed for shuttling inmates between county jail and the courthouse," said David Freeman, director of IT for Limestone County, Al. "Public safety is a significant return on investment. With this current integration, we made the most of our existing technology, but also integrated new equipment to create a more efficient way of delivering key county services."
As David Seibert, Limestone County Commission Chairman, noted, "It would have been hard to put the video hearing technology into place without Cabinet NG: the company ensured we protected plaintiff rights, upheld the spirit of the law and gained huge efficiencies in manpower by making court documents available electronically."
Cabinet NG played a key role in the technology solution. "Organizations are challenged to do more with less, especially in the current economic climate. Local governments need to remedy dwindling cash-flows as consumer spending weakens," said Andrew Bailey, president of Cabinet NG. "By implementing our document management solution, we helped streamline the preliminary hearing process, enhance public safety and reduce costs while improving ROI for Limestone County, Alabama. We are honored that Limestone County chose Cabinet NG to play such an important role in helping serve the community."
About the Smart Government Awards
The Smart Government Awards were developed by RDS to recognize innovative governments and efficient programs in Alabama. Judges evaluated nominees based on efforts within the past five years to enhance growth and reduce waste in spending, time and resources, particularly in regards to the environment.
About RDS
Based in Birmingham, Ala., RDS is a government services company providing revenue enhancement support services to state and local government in the areas of tax administration, revenue discovery & recovery, and compliance audit examination.
Each year RDS processes billions of dollars in business taxes, licenses and fees and has simultaneously discovered and recovered millions in unpaid revenues. For nearly 30 years, RDS has been committed to delivering government solutions based on outstanding value, competitive pricing, exceptional customer service and compliance with the highest professional standards. RDS currently provides tax administration services for more than 450 state and local government clients and manages 700+ professional service contracts. For more information, please visit www.revds.com.
SOURCE: Revenue Discovery Systems