it Wednesday in his State of the Judiciary speech to a joint session of the Alaska House of Representatives and Senate.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Increasing cybersecurity is one facet of the court system becoming more technologically savvy, Bolger said in his 18-minute address. In an interview after the speech, Wooliver said the court system has included a little under $1 million for cybersecurity in its capital budget request.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
[Residents express frustrations, stories of Juneau crime wave<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Bolger detailed another technological endeavor that could help defendants. He said there are many people in Alaska who are not getting the legal representation they need, and that a simple and easy-to-understand online tool could help them.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t This tool, called the Legal Navigator<\/a>, is an online service that provides people with an interactive way to learn what their legal options are. The court system has been working with Legal Services Corporation, Pew Charitable Trusts and Microsoft (which built the tool), among other organizations to develop this, Bolger said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t He said it will be tested later this year before being openly available to the public.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t “We hope that this tool will help regular people to overcome Alaska’s financial and geographical barriers to appropriate assistance,” Bolger said.<\/p>\n Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Joel H. Bolger speaks to a Joint Session of the Alaska Legislature at the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. Senate President Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, and Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, D-Dillingham, listen from the Speaker’s desk in the House of Representatives. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t Reopening on Friday afternoons?<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t In recent years, the court system has cut costs in a variety of ways, Bolger said during his speech, from judges and employees taking time off without pay to the courts closing their doors for Friday afternoons.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t At least one person would like to see the court stay open on Fridays — Gov. Mike Dunleavy. During his State of the State speech<\/a>, Dunleavy said he hopes the Legislature approves funding for the courts to stay open all day on Friday so more cases can be prosecuted.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t During his speech Wednesday, Bolger said the court system had actually already finished its budget request to the state — but that it hadn’t included a request for funding to keep courts open on Fridays. Wooliver, who puts together the court system’s budget requests along with the members of the Supreme Court, said they reconsidered their request after seeing Dunleavy’s State of the State speech.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t Wooliver met with the Office of Management and Budget, he said, and found that OMB would be supportive of finding money in the budget to get the court system open for more days.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t![\"Alaska](\"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/15643024_web1_copy_IMG_9122.jpg\")
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