Twelve years into online traffic resolution, 14A District Court switched to ODR.com — and now sees fewer than 1% of online cases default.
The court knew exactly what it needed from a resolution platform. This is what it asked for — and what happened after the switch.
- Court
- 14A District CourtMichigan · four courthouses serving most of Washtenaw County
- Online since
- 2014Eight law enforcement agencies participate
- Services offered online
- Traffic tickets, online plea, warrant review, license-suspension matters
- Administration
- Lisa FusikCourt AdministratorJennifer BurbyDeputy Court Administrator
14A District Court was among the first in the country to move traffic ticket mediation online. Since 2014 the informal hearing, where a driver admits a ticket and asks for a disposition that carries no points, has happened on a screen instead of in a courtroom. By the time COVID closed courthouse doors, 14A had been reaching people where they were for years and had added online plea, online warrant review and license-suspension matters.
Twelve years on, that program was load-bearing. It served four courthouses and most of Washtenaw County. Eight law enforcement agencies, including the Washtenaw County Sheriff and the Michigan State Police, routed their tickets through it, and the court’s magistrate and clerks worked inside it every day. A court does not replace a system that many people depend on unless it has to.
But the platform it had run since 2014 had drifted away from what the court needed.
“We had been using a product since 2014 that had morphed into something that wasn’t working as well for us as it initially did. The ODR.com resolution platform definitely filled a void for us.”
Twelve years of daily use had made 14A a demanding customer. It knew what worked, what didn’t, and what was non-negotiable. Chief among those: simplicity. Set criteria. Few options. Immediate clarity about what happens next. And the switch could not cost the court a step. Officers, the magistrate and the clerk’s office all had to keep working while the platform underneath them changed.
“We wanted the resolution platform to be as simple and as clear as possible — so that when someone signs up, they know exactly what’s going to happen. That mattered more to us than giving people lots of complicated options.”
ODR.com built the resolution platform around the court’s own process instead of asking the court to adapt to the software. Working with 14A, ODR.com connected the platform to JIS, Michigan’s statewide case management system. A driver who follows the line printed on the bottom of the ticket to the court’s website lands on a case that is already filled in, and confirms it rather than typing it.
From there the case moves through the court’s own order, with each update reaching the driver in the ODR.com app. The clerk’s office notes the request. The agency reviews it and makes a recommendation. The magistrate decides. The clerk’s office updates the case, and the driver receives the offer in the app and pays. A request that used to wait weeks or months for a hearing date now closes in days, and nobody has to be at a courthouse at a set time. An officer on the midnight shift can review a case at 2 am. A driver can settle a ticket from the couch at 11 pm.
Rollout ran smoothly, with no downtime and no staff complaints about navigating the system. Support changed too: regular check-ins, fast fixes, no unrealistic promises.
“Any concerns that we had, we talked it through. We were getting immediate responses. As a vendor, ODR.com has been tremendous to work with.”
How great is it that somebody can sit on their couch at midnight watching a show and negotiate their traffic ticket? A court, which is always seen as stodgy and behind the times, now seems innovative — and we get to be part of that.
Lisa Fusik
Court Administrator, 14A District Court
Clear terms, agreed upfront
Because payment terms are clear and agreed to upfront — with payment due within 48 hours, rather than the 30-day window that used to generate repeat notices and chasing — 14A now maintains a default rate of less than 1% on cases resolved through the platform.
For comparison, Lisa Fusik puts the typical default rate on a traffic ticket at 50 to 60 percent. The difference comes from the design the court asked for and ODR.com built: everyone entering the program knows the offer they will receive and the window to pay, the platform tells them when it is time, and the case closes before anyone has forgotten it. Clerks are not chasing payments, and the magistrate is not holding a hearing for each request.
“We are maintaining a very impressive less than 1% default rate on the cases approved through the ODR resolution platform.”
“The ODR.com resolution platform is a win-win for everybody.”
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