Collin County Court Monitor

Collin County Court Monitor

Use the bundled scripts to run the same repeatable workflow each time:

1. Prepare a CSV file matching the shape in references/input-csv-example.csv.
2. Run scripts/court_case_scraper.py to scrape every case with scrape_flag=Y.
3. Run scripts/generate_new_events_report.py to produce a Markdown and CSV report for a scrape date.
4. Run scripts/send_outlook_report.py when you want Outlook drafts or sent emails.
5. Use scripts/run_daily_cycle.py when you want scraping, reporting, and optional Outlook delivery to run back to back.

Before running the workflow for another user, ask for:

• the working folder that should hold the case list, case CSV output, and report output
• the path to the case-list CSV if it is not in the working folder
• whether email routing should come from the attorney_email column or from one override email address
• whether the user wants Outlook drafts or immediate sends

Quick Start

Install dependencies:

python -m pip install -r .\scripts\requirements.txt

Run the full cycle:

python .\scripts\run_daily_cycle.py --input-csv .\cases.csv --case-output-dir .\court_scraper_output --report-output-dir .\court_scraper_reports --email-mode draft

Run the scraper only:

python .\scripts\court_case_scraper.py --input-csv .\cases.csv --output-dir .\court_scraper_output

Generate the latest report only:

python .\scripts\generate_new_events_report.py --input-dir .\court_scraper_output --output-dir .\court_scraper_reports

Create Outlook drafts using attorney_email from the case-list CSV:

python .\scripts\send_outlook_report.py --case-list-csv .\cases.csv --input-dir .\court_scraper_output --output-dir .\court_scraper_reports --mode draft

Send a combined report to one override address:

python .\scripts\send_outlook_report.py --case-list-csv .\cases.csv --input-dir .\court_scraper_output --output-dir .\court_scraper_reports --mode send --email-to reports@yourfirm.com

Workflow Notes

• Support only the public Collin County site and the Case tab event table.
• Require Chrome to be installed locally because Selenium drives a real browser.
• Require desktop Outlook on Windows for draft/send automation.
• Update last_scraped_on in the input CSV after a successful scrape.
• Use Y or N in scrape_flag so colleagues can maintain the list easily in Excel.
• Support an optional attorney_email column in the case-list CSV for per-attorney Outlook routing.
• Write one CSV per cause number and append only unseen docket rows.
• Include both scraped_date and scraped_on_utc in each event row so later reports can filter by scrape day or exact timestamp.
• Default the report generator to the latest scraped_date present in the case CSVs when --report-date is omitted.
• Default the Outlook sender to drafts unless the user clearly asks to send immediately.

Resources

scripts/

• court_case_scraper.py: scrape flagged cause numbers from the CSV file and update per-case CSVs.
• generate_new_events_report.py: create attorney-grouped Markdown and CSV reports for a scrape date.
• send_outlook_report.py: create Outlook drafts or send Outlook emails with report attachments.
• send_outlook_mail.ps1: PowerShell helper that drives the local Outlook desktop application.
• run_daily_cycle.py: run scraping, reporting, and optional Outlook delivery in one command.
• requirements.txt: minimal Python dependency list.

references/

• input-csv-example.csv: example case-list payload for new matters.

Maintenance

• Inspect selectors in scripts/court_case_scraper.py if the Collin County site changes its markup or navigation flow.
• Keep county-specific assumptions inside the scraper; do not silently reuse this skill for other counties without adapting selectors and routing.