eCourts coming to Western North Carolina: Officials promise greater public access to judicial system
eCourts will ideally make things easier for attorneys, clerks and judges, but it will also allow the public a far greater degree of access. File photo
The public in Western North Carolina is about to have more access to the courts than ever before, assuming all goes to plan.
On July 22, 11 counties in the region will be able to use the long-anticipated eCourts system, which will allow anyone with internet access to view court documents from anywhere. Before, a person would have to go to the courthouse, and in most cases, a clerk would have to retrieve a document for them. In addition, attorneys will be able to file documents remotely, and law enforcement agencies will be integrated into the system, meaning warrants and citations can be processed easily through the system.
In an April release from the North Carolina Judicial Branch, it’s noted that the eCourts applications had already accepted over 1 million files and saved more than 3 million pieces of paper. Historically, roughly 30 million pieces of paper were added to court files each year in North Carolina, the release noted.
But while the eCourts brings a lot of promise, there have been some hiccups in other areas where the system has already been rolled out, including delays in implementation and significant glitches.
In July 2019, Tyler Technologies was awarded the $100 million 10-year contract to implement its “enterprise justice software.” The contract was initially announced at $85 million but the price eventually went up. eCourts was supposed to launch in July 2021 but administrative and technical holdups caused multiple delays.
On Feb. 13 of last year, the program was rolled out in Wake, Harnett, Johnston and Lee counties as a pilot program. A number of glitches occurred during the early phases of the rollout — including incorrect DMV information, incorrect court dates and even private information appearing on public pages. A second pilot program that was supposed to launch in Mecklenburg was delayed.
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Shortly after the pilot program launched, Harnett County had to postpone all district court sessions for a week due to issues with the new software. In a statement at that time, the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (NCAOC) tried to allay any fears.
“With the partnership of committed local Judicial Branch leaders in Wake, Harnett, Johnston, and Lee, we continue to make progress in our implementation of eCourts,” the statement read. “We are focused on providing support to end users and working with Tyler to resolve defects that have arisen since go-live. While we are glad that more than half the issues that have arisen have already been closed/resolved, important other issues remain. Since we want to rollout a version in Mecklenburg that is improved from the version that our Pilot Counties are currently using, we need to take additional weeks working with Tyler to resolve key defects. A target go-live date for Mecklenburg County will be provided once it is established.”
In February of this year, Guilford County’s Clerk of Superior Court urged a pause in that county’s anticipated spring rollout as part of Track 4. As recently as April of this year, multiple district attorneys called for that rollout to be temporarily halted to allow time to iron out the wrinkles.
“In my district, which must confront the largest volume of criminal cases, grave challenges remain,” said District Attorney Spencer Merriweather, out of Mecklenberg County, which rolled out eCourts in the second phase. “There’s a lot of opportunity for mistakes. And, we have seen a lot of them.”
“We have heard that it has improved over time. A pause would give them additional time to work and fully resolve these issues,” said Chuck Spahos, representing the NC Conference of District Attorneys.
Perhaps worst of all, a federal class-action lawsuit was filed that alleged glitches led to 69 people being held in jail for hours after their releases were ordered. While that suit was recently dismissed, according to reporting in a newsletter from The Assembly, the dismissal wasn’t based on merit, but rather the fact that a North Carolina Supreme Court ruling extended governmental immunity to court clerks, some of whom were defendants in that case. There’s even a chance the suit could be re-filed.
Either way, Track 4 was rolled out on time to 10 counties on April 29, a move the state said gave eCourts access to half the state’s population across 27 counties.
As seen on this map, Western North Carolina courts will be fully digital come July 22. North Carolina Judicial Branch photo
The 11 counties in Track 5 are Polk, Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Graham, Clay and Cherokee. This means it impacts all seven counties that make up the 43rd judicial district and prosecutorial districts. While there were quite a few horror stories coming from the earlier rollouts, officials in Western North Carolina are cautiously optimistic.
“There may be some growing pains, but long-term it will be worth it,” said 43rd Judicial District Chief District Court Judge Roy Wijewickrama. “But this is something that is going to benefit the public long-term.”
Wijewickrama was quick to point out all that those affiliated with the court system have done to prepare. To begin with, all stakeholders have done extensive training on how to use the system. A May 23 memo sent from NCAOC director Ryan S. Boyce to the legal community provided links for training resources to allow everyone — including attorneys, paralegals, hospital filers, judges, clerks and law enforcement — the chance to prepare for the upcoming transition to the digital system. In addition, it laid out a number of tasks for each entity and individual to complete to make sure they’ll have the access they desire by the rollout date.
“Significant adjustments to courthouse operations will begin in Track 5 counties the week prior to July 22, 2024, to support the transition from paper records to electronic filing and case management,” Boyce wrote, noting that there will be several interim changes in the week leading up to the rollout to ease the transition.
On June 27, he sent out another memo which contained a more specific “Go-Live” timeline for the Track 5 rollout with major changes to clerk’s offices’ operations occurring intermittently from July 10 through the launch, much of which could seem confusing or overwhelming. In the meantime, judges and clerks have ventured out to other parts of the state see how eCourts affects court sessions.
“We’ve conferred with these other clerks and judges about lessons learned and what works best,” Wijewickrama said. “From speaking with other chief district court judges in the state, the rollout has gone more and more smoothly each time.”
In addition, stakeholders have been in multiple online meetings every week since March. For elected clerks of superior court like Hunter Plemmons in Haywood County, it’s been one training with key stakeholders in the district, one meeting with his fellow elected clerks and then one with all stakeholders, plus representatives from NCAOC. That’s three in-depth meetings every week for months.
“Our whole district decided early on that we’re going to go at this from an optimistic standpoint and learn it the best we can and do what we can to make it a success,” Plemmons said. “From what I understand from AOC and other districts, the time leading up to going live has gone better for us.”
But at the end of the day, the massive number of hours put in ahead of the rollout are likely to pay off. Janna Allison, who heads Western North Carolina’s new public defender office, said that for attorneys in her office — like attorneys in general who will enjoy the system — things should be easier since they can file and view documents remotely, something that should save some headaches.
“It will be a timesaver,” Allison said. “We’ll be able to see the file with a click of a computer and it’s going to pull that up and you can tell what’s going on, if someone else has filed something. That’s a big help without having to get in the car and go to the courthouse. We’re excited about that, and we’re embracing the change.”
In an email, District Attorney Ashley Welch said something similar.
“Once the transition is fully completed, the hope is eCourts will prove a more efficient way to handle case management,” she said.
Wijewickrama also noted that the big transition will help those who spend their days working in the courtroom, as well.
“I’m holding court like it’s 1982, but it’s not 1982,” he said. “We’re now coming into the 21st century.”
