Manage and assign judges to events, cases, warrants, and payments within eCourtDate. Create judge profiles, associate them with locations, and use merge tags to personalize message templates with judge information.

### Overview

The Judges feature in eCourtDate allows your agency to maintain a directory of judges and associate them with events, cases, warrants, and payments. Each judge profile can include contact information, a default location, a photo, and a virtual meeting link. Judges can also have public portal profiles for client-facing information.

By centralizing judge management, your agency can filter events and run bulk actions by assigned judge, auto-populate judge names in message templates, and generate reports with real-time metrics broken down by judge. Administrators and staff members who manage court scheduling typically handle judge configuration.

### Prerequisites

Before managing judges, ensure you have the following:

- Administrator access to the eCourtDate platform
- Access to the **Admin** > **Settings** > **Judges** tab
- (Optional) At least one **Location** configured if you want to assign default locations to judges
- (Optional) A **Portal** created if you want to publish public judge profiles

### How-To Steps

#### Create a Judge from Settings

![Add Judge Form as an Admin](https://ecdassets.s3.amazonaws.com/images/articles/judges-add-form.png)

1. Click **Admin** in the top navigation bar, then select **Settings**.
2. Click the **Judges** tab.
3. In the **Create Judge** form, enter the judge's name.
4. Click the **Add** button.
5. The new judge appears in the table. Click on the judge to open the edit screen.

![Edit Judge Form as an Admin](https://ecdassets.s3.amazonaws.com/images/articles/judges-edit-form.png)

The following fields are available for each judge profile:

- **Name** - The full judge name without titles such as "Judge" or "Honorable".
- **Reference** - A unique judge ID, used primarily for file uploads or API integrations.
- **Description** - A biography or description, useful for the judge's portal profile.
- **Photo** - A photo of the judge, displayed on the portal profile if configured.
- **Location** - The default location assigned to this judge. This can be overridden at the event level.
- **Type** - The type or classification of the judge.
- **Full Address** - The physical or mailing address for the judge.
- **Phone** - The judge's phone number.
- **Email** - The judge's email address.
- **Website** - The judge's website URL.
- **Virtual Link and Code** - A virtual meeting link (such as Zoom or Teams) and access code for the judge.

After making changes, click **Save** to apply them.

#### Create a Public Judge Profile

1. Open the judge's edit screen from **Admin** > **Settings** > **Judges**.
2. Select a **Portal** from the dropdown to associate with the judge.
3. Click **Save** to publish the public profile.

![Public Judge Portal Demo View](https://ecdassets.s3.amazonaws.com/images/articles/judges-view-details-portal.png)

The judge's name, description, photo, and contact details will appear on the selected portal.

#### Create a Judge by Location

1. Click **Admin** in the top navigation bar, then select **Settings**.
2. Click the **Locations** tab and choose an existing location or create a new one. Both in-person and virtual locations are supported.
3. Set the **Default Judge** field to the desired judge.
4. Click **Save** to apply your changes.

Events assigned to this location will automatically inherit the default judge unless overridden.

#### Create a Judge from the Event Edit Screen

1. Click **Events** in the top navigation bar.
2. Click on an event in the table to open it.
3. In the **Assigned Judge** field, select **Add a New Judge**.
4. Enter the judge's name in the field that appears.
5. Click **Save** to create the judge and assign it to the event.

#### Create Judges via File Uploads

When bulk-creating data through flat file uploads, you can map the assigned judge column through an upload template. This allows you to create or assign judges in bulk without manually editing each record.

#### Search for Events by Assigned Judge

1. Click **Events** in the top navigation bar.
2. In the **Search Events** form, select the desired judge from the **Assigned Judge** dropdown.

The event results update automatically when you change the assigned judge filter.

#### Run a Bulk Action by Assigned Judge

1. Click **Bulk Actions** in the top navigation bar.
2. Create a new bulk action or click on an existing one in the table.
3. In the **Search Clients** form, select the desired judge from the **Assigned Judge** dropdown.

The client results update automatically when you change the assigned judge filter.

#### Use Judge Names in Message Templates

Use merge tags to auto-populate judge information in your message templates:

| Merge Tag | Description |
|-----------|-------------|
| `[JudgeName]` | Inserts the assigned judge for the specific event, case, warrant, or payment. Best used in flows and auto messages triggered by a specific record (such as "Event Created/Updated"). |
| `[PrimaryJudge]` | Inserts the primary judge configured in **Admin** > **Settings**. Use this for general messages (such as "Client Created") where a specific judge may not be available. |
| `[RandomJudge]` | Selects a judge randomly from your judge list. Use this when the specific judge is not relevant to the message. |

### What to Expect

After creating judges and assigning them to events or locations, the judge information becomes available throughout the platform. You can filter events and clients by assigned judge, include judge names in automated messages, and publish public judge profiles on your portal. Changes to judge profiles take effect immediately after clicking **Save**.

### Best Practices

- Enter the judge's full name without titles (avoid "Judge Smith" and use "John Smith" instead) to keep naming consistent across reports and templates.
- Assign a default location to each judge so that events automatically inherit the correct judge when a location is selected.
- Use the `[JudgeName]` merge tag in event-triggered flows and auto messages for the most accurate personalization.
- Keep judge profiles up to date with current contact information, virtual meeting links, and photos for portal accuracy.
- Use the **Reference** field to store external judge IDs when integrating with other systems or importing data via file uploads.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Can I assign more than one judge to a single event?**
A: Each event has one **Assigned Judge** field. If you need to track multiple judges for a single event, you can note additional judges in the event description or use custom fields.

**Q: What happens if I delete a judge who is assigned to events?**
A: The judge association is removed from those events. Existing messages that already included the judge's name are not affected, but future messages using the `[JudgeName]` merge tag for those events will no longer populate the judge name.

**Q: Can I use judge merge tags in SMS and email messages?**
A: Yes. The `[JudgeName]`, `[PrimaryJudge]`, and `[RandomJudge]` merge tags work in all message types, including SMS, email, and voice messages.

**Q: How do I set a primary judge for my agency?**
A: Go to **Admin** > **Settings** and configure the primary judge in the general settings. This judge is used when the `[PrimaryJudge]` merge tag is included in a message and no specific judge is assigned to the record.

**Q: Can clients see judge profiles on the portal?**
A: Yes, if you assign a portal to the judge's profile. The judge's name, description, photo, and contact details will appear on the public portal page.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** The `[JudgeName]` merge tag appears blank in sent messages.
**Symptoms:** Messages are delivered but the judge name is missing where the merge tag was used.
**Solution:**

1. Confirm that the event, case, warrant, or payment has an **Assigned Judge** selected.
2. Verify that the merge tag is used in a flow or auto message triggered by a specific record (such as "Event Created/Updated"), not a general trigger like "Client Created".
3. For general messages, use `[PrimaryJudge]` instead and confirm a primary judge is set in **Admin** > **Settings**.

**Issue:** A judge does not appear in the **Assigned Judge** dropdown on the event screen.
**Symptoms:** You cannot find the judge when editing an event.
**Solution:**

1. Go to **Admin** > **Settings** > **Judges** and confirm the judge exists in the list.
2. Check that the judge has not been archived or deleted.
3. If the judge was recently created, refresh the event edit page and try again.

> **Important:** If you continue to experience issues after following these troubleshooting steps, sign in to eCourtDate and create a ticket by clicking the ticket button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

### Related Articles

- [How to Manage Events](/how-to-manage-events)
- [How to Manage Clients](/how-to-manage-clients)
- [How to Create Web Portals](/how-to-create-web-portals)
- [Glossary of Terms](/glossary-of-terms)
- [Platform Architecture](/platform-architecture)