GREENSBORO—IDS staff brought OASIS (the Online Attorney State Invoice System) to all PAC (Privately Assigned Counsel) in Guilford County August 27. IDS staff held an in-person training at the Guilford County Courthouse in Greensboro, also providing an option for attorneys to attend virtually. One hour of technology CLE credit was authorized by the NC Bar for all who participated.
OASIS is used by attorneys who do court appointed work on noncapital, adult criminal matters to invoice IDS directly and electronically for payment for their services.
As of August 28 onward, it is the sole means for PAC to request payment from IDS.
Guilford County (Defender District 24) is the second public defender district to go live with OASIS this year, following Defender District 2 in Eastern North Carolina. And as the rollout continues, IDS plans for OASIS to be implemented in every county that uses eCourts, over the next year. Mecklenburg County (Defender District 26) will launch September 26, followed by Defender Districts 43 (Cherokee, Graham, Swain, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Clay counties) and 1 (Gates, Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck and Dare counties).
IDS chose to implement OASIS in Guilford County early in the rollout because of the dedication and strength of the attorneys in its local defense bar. Upon the successful launch in Defender District 24, IDS will better serve the PAC there—and soon—everywhere in North Carolina.
The launch in Guilford County would not have been possible without the interest, excitement and collaboration of the Guilford Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association (GCDLA)—whose eagerness to use OASIS placed them on the fast track to be trained on the new electronic invoice system.
The Guilford Criminal Defense Lawyers' Association was founded in the 1970s as the Greensboro Criminal Defense Lawyers' Association. “At the end of last year, we voted to officially change our name with the Secretary of State to ‘Guilford’ instead of just ‘Greensboro’ to foster a spirit of inclusiveness amongst all criminal defense lawyers in the county—whether they are in Greensboro, High Point, or any of the smaller towns in our county,” said Attorney Christon S. Halkiotis, immediate past president of the GCDLA and board certified specialist in State Criminal Law.
An effective public defense system can only be realized when there is solid support from PAC who assist with conflicts, overflow cases, and specialized court appointed work.
Wait times from when attorneys submitted fee apps for payment to the time they were actually paid, had become intolerable for PAC—particularly since October 2023, when the implementation of NCFS and the mandated use of the eCourts Task Queue created delays for the issuance of payments.
IDS listened and developed a solution that will do more than apply a temporary bandage on the situation.
OASIS is a game changer. It not only ensures PAC will be paid faster than ever before; it also carves a path for PAC who had stopped doing court appointed work to rejoin rosters.
Here is what two local PAC attorneys had to say about the launch:
The training and quizzes were very easy to follow and were very helpful.
~ Andrew Clifford
I was initially concerned about having to complete an extra step to submit fee applications, but quickly realized that there are some true benefits to OASIS! It’s nice to submit all your cases under one invoice and know that they’ve reached their end destination without having to rely solely on clerks to pass our information on for payment to IDS. I am confident that the implementation of OASIS will alleviate past concerns and issues with receiving timely payment on court appointed cases and gives us court appointed attorneys full transparency and control over when our fee applications are submitted and clocked in with IDS.
~ Sharon Dunmore