Pierce County has won two national awards for creating online tools that streamline the building permit process and improve the management of electronic records in the criminal justice system.

The National Association of Counties Achievement Awards will be presented at NACo’s annual conference in July.

The following programs were honored:

Permits: The Planning and Land Services (PALS) and Information Technology departments worked together to create robust online self-help tools to meet customer demand while reducing costs. Customers can now get answers to routine questions, research public permit documents and start the permitting process with just a few clicks. Self-help services have reduced the number of citizen visits and phone calls to county offices by 25 percent.

Legal information network: Faced with an increasing number of court cases and legal filings, Pierce County enhanced its Legal Information Network Exchange (LINX) system, which provides integrated case and document management.  Electronic filing of court documents has lowered county costs, expanded public understanding of the judicial process and provided near instant access to public court documents. The system has received approximately 9 million pageviews so far this year. Pierce County also is among the first jurisdictions to streamline the arraignment process by allowing court orders to be filed electronically. Additionally, a kiosk system allows people to apply for temporary protection orders without having to visit the courthouse.

“These national Achievement Awards recognize initiatives that improve the efficient delivery of services,” said County Executive Pat McCarthy. “I’m proud of our staff for making significant improvements to our permitting and legal information systems. These are just two of the latest examples of the hard work by Pierce County employees to find ways to maintain or improve services to the public even as we operate with fewer resources.”

This year’s NACo Achievement Award winners represent 30 states and 99 counties. More information is available at www.naco.org.