US Courts Going Digital

First appeared in USA Today

Courts across the country are moving forward with projects to move to digital record-keeping in efforts to save time, paper and, most important, money.

From a system that will tie together circuit civil, county civil, felony and juvenile courts in Lee County, Fla., to a system-wide integration of digital court records in Minnesota, courts are pursuing plans to allow all levels of courts to share information.

"There's virtually no state that isn't trying to do something in this area," said Tom Clarke, vice president for research & technology at the Williamsburg, Va.-based National Center for State Courts.

Clarke says that while the courts' digital migration dates back more than 20 years ago, the recession and its ensuing budget cuts have quickened the pace. Since 2008, court budgets, on average, are down nearly 20%, he said. The labor savings promised — through electronic filing in particular — has garnered a lot of attention, Clarke said.

The Minnesota project will mean a traffic offender can "walk into any courthouse and pay the ticket — or pay it online," said Bruce Graham, president of the courts and justice division of Tyler Technologies, a Texas-based software developer working with courts across the USA.

Elsewhere:

·         Vermont: The state launched an e-filing project with two civil courts last year, and intends to extend e-filing to the rest of its courts in the next two to three years, said Rick Conklin, a project manager with the state judiciary.

·         Washington: The Superior Court in Chelan County is completing a project that will enable public defenders and prosecutors to handle felony cases electronically in the courtrooms. The court clerk's office and the judges already operate paperlessly, County Clerk Kim Morrison said.

·         California: Stanislaus County Superior Court is creating electronic copies of voluminous civil court case files to be shipped to appellate courts, cutting the workload for some staffers by half. The court wants to use the software next for juvenile court cases headed for appeal.

Lee County, Fla., court leaders look forward to using Odyssey, a Tyler Technologies software system that will tie together circuit civil, county civil, felony and juvenile courts. A rollout date hasn't been determined, said Linda Doggett, chief operating officer for the county clerk of court. "The sooner it gets done, the more money we save," she said.

"I would like us to be as paperless as possible," Lee County Judge Frank Mann Jr. said.

Some attorneys agree. D. Todd Smith, an appellate law attorney in Austin, said he appreciates Travis County's e-filing system for its ease of use and flexibility.

"If I have a document to file, and I want to file it at 11:59 p.m. on the day that it is due, I can do that," he said.

He thinks the convenience outweighs the extra cost of electronic filing fees. Paul Embley, chief information officer with the National Center for State Courts, estimates fees range from $5-$7 per filing and sometimes higher, with some states or municipalities offering annual rates.

The convenience argument doesn't sway Marshal Willick, a family law attorney in Las Vegas, who raises several objections to Clark County's mandatory e-filing and related fees. "It puts lawyers in the position of either absorbing those costs, or passing them along to their clients," Willick wrote in his online newsletter.

Paper forms aren't becoming obsolete everywhere. Lauren Passalacqua, a spokeswoman for the New York City mayor's office, confirmed the city had just ordered new electric typewriters for the police department and more than 18 city agencies. That's because there are certain forms with carbon copies that require actual keystrokes to complete, she said.

In the nation's court systems, too, "there are still places where carbon copies are the standard," said Embley at the National Center for State Courts. "It is a lot easier to change or automate internal processes than to automate those between agencies," Embley said.