How to Use the Justice Implementation Field Notes

These field notes are written for court leaders, administrators, and peers who are responsible for large-scale justice technology decisions.

They are not a checklist, a project plan, or vendor documentation. Instead, they are meant to help you recognize patterns early — before they turn into delays, cost overruns, or operational failures.

You can use these notes to:

• Frame the right questions in governance and oversight discussions

• Validate whether reported progress reflects real operational readiness

• Surface misalignment before it becomes an escalation

• Guide conversations with vendors, consultants, and internal teams

Each note focuses on why certain problems recur, what typically helps, and what quietly and systemically undermines success. They are written at the pattern level, based on repeated experience across many justice implementations — not any single program or jurisdiction.

If a field note feels familiar, that’s intentional. These are the issues that matter most. They are also the ones that deserve leadership attention early, while there is still room to adjust course.