Outsiders are so impressed with the computerized workload management system devised by programmers on the staff of San Bernardino County’s information technology department for use in the coroner’s office that the first of what may soon be several California counties has agreed to pay a licensing fee to the county to utilize the system.
According to Jennifer Hilber, San Benardino County’s chief information officer who oversees the county information services department, “The information services department has developed a coroner case management system, a successful software application for managing case information related to investigation of deaths, which includes a variety of critical data on the decedent and next of kin, forensic and medical information, and cause of death. This application also generates multiple reports and allows clerical staff to view and input data, depending on the user access granted by administrators.”
Hilber said, “The Marin County Sheriff-Coroner has requested, through the county’s sheriff/coroner/public administrator, to purchase a license to use the coroner case management system. The Marin County sheriff-coroner has the legal authority to execute an agreement with San Bernardino County. As a result of this agreement, the Marin County sheriff-coroner will receive a perpetual license for the coroner case management system and will be charged based on the board-approved fee for the time spent to implement the application. Application maintenance and support services and enhancements to the application may be requested at a later date and will be charged at the board-approved programmer hourly labor rate in place at the time work is performed.”
Accordingly, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved a revenue agreement with the Marin County sheriff-coroner in an amount not to exceed $13,000, for the county of San Bernardino to grant a nonexclusive, irrevocable and perpetual license and implementation of the county-owned and created software application. San Bernardino County’s programmers are to be paid at an hourly rate of $107.75 while working on readying the system for use by Marin County.
The licensing arrangement on the program was reviewed and approved by deputy county counsel Phebe Chu.