BOARD LOOKS AT DATA SYSTEM.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

In the name of streamlining judicial record-keeping and avoiding data glitches in the year 2000, Ventura County supervisors will vote Tuesday whether to spend $1.45 million to develop a computerized information system.

The system would tie together the computerized information contained in separate files at the Superior and Municipal courts, the District Attorney's and Public Defender's offices, and the Sheriff's and Corrections departments, said George Matthews, director of the county Information Systems Department.

Any information added to a file in one department would automatically update the others, Matthews said.

``In terms of a technological system, . . . we're trying to create one system,'' he said. ``We're trying to eliminate the duplication of data entry by five or six different entities.''

The current method of record-keeping sometimes results in lost information and requires duplicated labor from clerical staff at the various departments, Supervisor Frank Schillo said. The new system should be more accurate and efficient, he said.

``When this is implemented, there would be one case number for say, a person who gets a drunk-driving ticket,'' he said. ``The policeman will fill out the form, and then that form will be transmitted to the courts, the district attorney, whoever needs that information,'' Schillo said.

In addition, the system would adjust the county's computer systems to accommodate the date changes of the year 2000. Current systems could not accommodate dates after the year 1999.

``If we don't finish this, then we would have to convert existing systems to the year 2000,'' Matthews said. ``We would rather spend money putting new systems together than spending to convert the old systems to be year-2000 compliant.''

The board will vote Tuesday whether to approve $1.45 million to develop the system, which is expected to cost $18 million overall. The bulk of that cost should be covered by grants, Matthews said.