eFileTexas 2.0 RFO Issued

Big Tex at the Texas State Fair

The Texas Office of Court Administration is providing an official notification of an RFO titled “eFileTexas 2.0”.

 The Texas Office of Court Administration (OCA), a judicial branch agency that assists the Supreme Court of Texas with the administration of the Texas courts, invites submissions of offers for systems and services for a statewide cloud‐based, COTS electronic filing system, a document access system, a redaction component, and a forms assembly solution (“eFileTexas 2.0” or “Solution”).

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The full RFO has been posted on the Electronic State Business Daily (ESBD) at http://www.txsmartbuy.com/spdetails/view/212200385

Background

In 2012, Texas implemented an electronic filing system (eFileTexas) for its courts. Mandated eFiling began in 2014 for various case types and courts, with increasing scope over the years. Currently, the State EFSP and various third-party EFSPs accept documents from attorneys and other filers in an electronic format through their respective online portals, ensure that proper payment has been collected and then send the documents to the appropriate court(s) via an interface where they are uploaded into the case management system of that court. Filers are also able to serve documents on other parties through the eFileTexas system. eFileTexas currently offers document management and access, redaction, and forms assembly, as well as financial processing to facilitate payment and distribution of fees.

OCA’s eFileTexas has incrementally added additional users and volume year after year, and currently has more than 330,000 registered users and houses more than 35 million documents within its document access system.

The current eFiling contract with the incumbent eFileTexas vendor expires in August 2022. OCA seeks to competitively procure a Solution with associated components (eFiling, redaction, document access, forms assembly) to:

• Continue to provide critical eFiling services to the State of Texas without service disruption between the expiration of the current contract and the newly procured Solution.
  
• Allow OCA to carry out its mission: "to provide resources and information for the efficient administration of the Judicial Branch of Texas", specifically to provide Texas courts with "technology solutions for electronic filing".
  
• Ensure compliance with Texas law and legislative mandates to provide electronic filing technology for the State, including:
  
• Chapter 72 of the Texas Government Code, which details the statutory mission of OCA, including the provision of “technology services for the trial courts, including operation of the statewide electronic filing system” (2020-2021 General Appropriations Act, OCA Rider No. 17 and Tex. Gov’t Code §72.031).
  
• Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals rules and administrative orders mandating electronic filing. Order Requiring Electronic Filing in Certain Courts, Misc. Dkt. No. 12-9208 (Tex. Dec. 11, 2012). Order Mandating Statewide Electronic Filing in Criminal Cases, Misc. Dkt. No. 16-003 (Tex. Crim. App. June 30, 2016).
  
• Incorporate any out-of-the-box features that exist in modern solutions today that are not part of the current solution that can increase usability and efficiency.
  
• A key objective of the project is to ensure maintenance of existing capabilities. The introduction of new features will be carefully evaluated to control cost, scope, and complexity of the Solution. 

Please note the following important dates:

• Deadline for Submission of Questions: 5/8/20  3:00pm, CT 
• Deadline for Submission of Offers: 6/16/20   3:00pm, CT