Shelton municipal court to continue therapeutic court, launches e-filing June 1

Municipal court staff told the City of Shelton council on Feb. 10 that the city will continue its therapeutic court program and move to a new electronic case-management and e-filing system this year.

Court leadership said the therapeutic court — a combined mental-health, drug and community court the city has run since 2022 — remains focused on reducing recidivism among participants. "Our primary goal, of therapeutic court program is to reduce recidivism among participants," a court presenter said, and staff track graduates for several years to evaluate outcomes.

Staff also described a new CLJ case-management/e-filing system that is scheduled to go live on June 1; attorneys will be required to use the new portal starting July 1, while pro se filers and crime victims will still be able to submit paper filings at the counter. The court plans to measure system adoption, filing times and error rates after implementation.

Court staff said they will not charge litigants for simple e-filing mistakes and contrasted Shelton’s policy with some neighboring counties that bill for rejected filings. The court emphasized continued training for staff, attention to GR 33 disability accommodations and monitoring performance measures related to training and service levels.

Separately, staff described a longstanding community-service program used as an alternative to incarceration that they expect to expand for large code-enforcement projects and other public works needs.

Next steps: the court will proceed with the CLJ conversion, track early adoption metrics and continue to evaluate funding and outcomes for the therapeutic court program.