How Local Governments Got Hooked on One Company’s Janky Software

Clerks and lawyers were worried, to put it mildly, about North Carolina’s $100 million-plus software upgrade. After more than three years of custom development, the state was finally ready to introduce Odyssey, a digital suite that promised to streamline trial date scheduling, court document sharing, fine collection and communication among divisions. But within the first few months that four counties adopted Odyssey early last year, state administrators discovered 573 defects. Users complained about the “wheel of death” that spun interminably when they tried to load cases. There were reports of glitches resulting in erroneous court summons, inaccurate speeding tickets and even wrongful arrests.

For centuries, the counties had largely relied on paper filed using a system of envelopes known as “shucks,” which were cataloged and stuffed in storage closets at county offices. Then, in 2023, the state started moving court records and processes into what veteran attorney George Laughrun II calls “the la-la world of the cloud.” He remembers feeling as though the Rapture had arrived. “I have an AOL account,” he says. “I am not a tech person.”