Business/Data Quality

Roles & Responsibilities

In 2001, Court Administration established the Business/Data Quality Department to manage one of its key functions at the court — maintaining the integrity of the information that the court generates and improving the quality of the data it collects. Specifically, Business/Data Quality has the responsibility of reviewing the data for all civil, criminal, family, and juvenile cases. One of the Department’s main responsibilities is to investigate and resolve data-related discrepancies found in these cases.

Currently, the Business/Data Quality Department reviews numerous databases and reports where cases have one or more potential data discrepancies. Based on these databases and reports, Business/Data Quality determines if there is an actual discrepancy, identifies its source, and reports to the responsible department to address the discrepancy. To resolve these discrepancies, Business/Data Quality uses various sources, ranging from the physical case files to recorded court hearings. Business/Data Quality also monitors the trends of cases with discrepancies and reports any unusual changes to the appropriate department.

Business/Data Quality’s other responsibility is the auditing of closed family, criminal, and miscellaneous petition cases for the Maryland Case Time Standards. Business/Data Quality verifies the information in these cases against the Court’s case time database for accuracy and proper case closures. Business/Data Quality is not only familiar with the details of case processing and legal procedures, but also with the Court's case management system.

Because of its frequent contacts with various departments of the Circuit Court, the Business/Data Quality Department also serves as an informational liaison between various departments and the Data Processing Department, which maintains the court’s case-related data. In this capacity, Business/Data Quality engages in continuous communications with other departments on quality issues and, with their assistance, strives to continue improving the quality of the court record.

Data Assurance Actions Performed by the Business/Data Quality Department:

• Evaluates cases without future events to determine if it is necessary for an event to be scheduled, a motion to be ruled on, a deficiency note to be issued, or if the case should be closed.
• Examines the cases with hearings or trials scheduled beyond prescribed case time standards to determine reasons for the over-standard scheduling.
• Resolves conflicts or discrepancies in data entered: identifies the source of the problem and notifies the appropriate department for updating discrepancies.
• Monitors and verifies the status of outstanding stays, stets, and bankruptcies and notifies the appropriate department for proper action.
• Monitors cases with an under-advisement status and notifies the judges assigned to the case for guidance to ensure appropriate action (such as submitting an order or scheduling a hearing) is taken.
• Monitors cases with outstanding motions and forwards them to the appropriate office for review, i.e., Judges/Magistrates, the Differentiated Case Management (DCM) Coordinator, Special Magistrate, Case Managers, or Administrative Aides.
• Reviews civil cases to determine if they are in the proper posture for the issuance of a “No Answer” or “No Default” notice. These notices are issued if an Answer or a Motion for Default has not been filed with the Clerk of the Court. Motions for Default are reviewed and processed by the Administrative Judge’s Administrative Aides.
• Reviews civil cases to determine if a Maryland 2-507 Civil Procedures Notice of Contemplated Dismissal should be issued against individual parties or as to the entire case.
• Reviews indictments and informations, if needed in the absence of the DCM Coordinator and the Administrative Aides, before they are filed to determine if they have been assigned to the correct case track according to the Court’s Criminal Differentiated Case Management (DCM) Plan.
• Reviews foreclosure cases with inactivity and issues a “Notification to the Plaintiff Trustee of Noncompliant Foreclosure Filing and Contemplated Dismissal” notice to the Plaintiff Trustee.
• Monitors criminal cases to ensure that they are in compliance with Maryland Rule 4-271.