The Model Integrated Defendant Access System (MIDAS) was a three-year NHTSA sponsored project designed to create a system to track impaired drivers from their first contact on the roadside, through adjudication, treatment and further tracking for repeat offenders. Alabama was one of only four states awarded these grants to develop model systems for other states to emulate.
The basic concept of MIDAS was to:
- Provide a statewide system that would identify, evaluate and classify offenders
- Maintain records for evaluation and follow-up
- Provide accessibility to all appropriate agencies statewide
Alabama has a fairly unique program that utilizes Court Referral Officers (CROs). Judges refer all defendants convicted of an alcohol or drug related offense to the Court Referral Officer for assessment and referral. The CROs evaluate defendants for alcohol/drug problems and make recommendations to judges to refer the defendants to appropriate community resources. They also drug test and monitor the defendants for compliance with court orders.
Before MIDAS, there was no standard automated case management system for the CROs to use. Most of them had no CMS at all. The few that did had only a paper system and there was no sharing with other CROs. Therefore, MIDAS was definitely needed.
MIDAS has supplied a standard system for all CROs to use that allows for complete and accurate records. It is a password protected web based system so that it can be accessed anywhere you have internet connectivity. It has provided the needed statewide integration not only for CROs but also for courts and law enforcement.
MIDAS has proven to be a very successful project and continues to grow. This is evidenced by the MIDAS case count numbers given below as of May 2007:
- 325 Case Managers trained and using MIDAS
- Approximately 47,000 clients
- Over 150,000 transactions
- 101,000 drug screens
- $1,256,000 collected in Defendant user’s fees
MIDAS was funded by NHTSA and was a collaborative project between NHTSA, the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts, The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the Department of Public Safety and CARE Research and Development Laboratory at the University of Alabama.
- Click here to view MIDAS Data Flow Charts
- Click here to view MIDAS Screen Shots