MI: Supreme Court order permits e-filing pilot testing

The Michigan Supreme Court has granted permission for a pilot e-filing project in the state. Administrative Order 2010-6 permits Macomb County to try the pilot "to study the effectiveness
of electronically filing court documents in lieu of traditional paper filings...All state courts in Michigan are envisioned as eventually permitting e-filing (with appropriate modifications and
improvements)." The project began January 1 and is authorized until December 2012. (h/t Michigan Lawyer)

CTC 2011 Call for Ideas and Participation

The National Center for State Courts - Court Technology Conference 2011 has issued a call for ideas and presentations.  CTC 2011 will be held in Long Beach, California from  October 4 – 6, 2011

The Court Technology Conference (CTC) attracts a diverse domestic and international audience of Judicial Officers, Court Managers, Court Clerks, and Technologists.  The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is seeking ideas for presentations that stimulate the conference attendees to action in using technology to resolve problems and enhance service.

NCSC invites practitioners, scholars and the private sector to participate in the educational programs at the Court Technology Conference 2011. The focus as always is on innovative implementations of technologies to all aspects of court business.  There is an emphasis on how technologies transform all levels of courts, all sizes of courts, all types of cases, and the work by members of the court and constituent communities.

Detailed information on submitting a presentation at CTC 2011 can be downloaded (PDF) by clicking HERE.

All submissions for the conference must be made through the conference submission survey at: http://www.ncsc.org/ctc2011survey 

The deadline for submissions is: February 15, 2011

Florida moving into e-filing "slowly" starting January 1

Legislatively mandated e-filing began in 9 Florida counties on January 1. According to the Florida Bar News not all counties were ready on New Year's Day, and for at least the first 90 days cases must be filed by paper as well as electronically. Moreover, filing through the portal www.myflcourtaccess.com is limited to circuit civil, county civil, probate, family, and juvenile dependency cases only for the time being.

E-signed and e-delivered, but not e-sealed?

Signed, sealed and delivered is more than a Stevie Wonder song, it represents the attestation of an action or record of a court dating back centuries. Technology, however, has outpaced the days of wax and impressions. For that reason, several state legislatures have have had to go back and change the laws of their states to allow their courts more latitude. legislatures in Oklahoma (HB 2253 of 2004), Iowa (HB 579 of 2009), and Michigan (SB 720 of 2010) all authorized all courts in their state to e-seal. Texas in 2007 (SB 229) gave its district court the authority to create a seal electronically, thus allowing the courts to transfer, store, and locate documents with greater efficiency.

This year, Nevada enters into the e-seal fray. SB 6 authorizes the electronic reproduction of the seal of a court (current law requires either impressing the seal on the document or impressing the seal on a substance attached to the document). The bill is currently pending in the Senate Committee on Judiciary.

Cross-posted at Gavel to Gavel blog

FL: Mandatory e-filing in criminal cases

Earlier in 2010, Gavel to Gavel looked at efforts by state legislatures to mandate more electronic filing of court documents. Much of the focus was on civil cases, however Florida’s Senate is considering a plan to press for criminal case e-filing. SB 170 of 2011 would require prosecutors and public defenders to e-file documents with the clerk of court and report back on March 1, 2012 on the implementation of the program to the legislature.
Cross-posted at Gavel to Gavel blog

Court Tech Bulletin's New Home

We have joined "the cloud" at the CTB. This will be the new home of the Court Technology Bulletin. We look forward to interacting with everyone in the future.

Also don't forget about the E-Courts Conference 2010 West coming up December 13-15, 2010 in Las Vegas.

SEARCH Launches New JIEM Website

JIEM 4.0 – developed through funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is being released in Fall 2007.  It is an evolution of the current web-based tool which has proven to be a popular and effective requirements-gathering resource.  The release has been driven by consistent user feedback that has demonstrated the need for functionality that will soon be available in the new Eclipse-based JIEM tool. This functionality:

• Improves the Tools usability and efficiency
• Supports more rapid and inexpensive addition of new features in the future
• Requires no connection to the Internet, running locally on the users workstation
• Allows for easier sharing of exchange models with other users
• Provides more robust support for XML and integration with other modeling and development tools
• Allows considerable user customization of the tools look and feel
• Employs many "rich client" features that users experience in other modeling tools.

Visit the JIEM website to learn more.

Appellate Court E-Filing - 2010

During the recent National Association of Appellate Court Clerks conference, a presentation on lessons learned from E-filing projects was made.  Supreme Courts in Wyoming, Texas and North Carolina shared their experiences.

We also became recently aware that the Supreme Court of Georgia is allowing members in good standing are allowed to register to E-file.  In an article by the Savannah Morning News, Chief Justice Carol Hunstein
was quoted:

What we’re talking about here is a revolutionary change that is a win-win situation for the Court and for the litigants,” Hunstein.said.  The parties will save time and money by no longer having to print, copy and deliver paper documents. No more fighting Atlanta traffic to get those documents into our Clerk’s office by the 4:30 filing deadline. Details about the system can be found at: http://www.gasupreme.us/efile/index.php

Paper on Demand Case Study

Periodically the NCSC has developed case study papers for court technology.  The most recent one is A Case Study of Paper on Demand POD that focuses on E-filing in Colorado and Utah.  You can download a PDF copy here.

NCSC releases 22nd edition of Future Trends in State Courts

Williamsburg, Virginia, USA - June 30, 2010 - The evaluation and adjustment of court operations to improve processes and save money while increasing efficiency and maintaining service levels to the public - a process known as court re-engineering - is the central theme of Future Trends in State Courts 2010, the latest edition of the National Center for State Courts NCSC annual report on Trends in State Courts series. This is the 22nd edition of the series, which is dedicated to making courts aware of key trends that affect not only court operations, but also the role of courts in society.

A limited number of free printed copies of Future Trends 2010 are available by contacting the National Center at 1-800-616-6164. In addition, the National Center is offering a CD containing electronic versions of this year edition as well as the 2000-09 editions. The publication can also be accessed online at: http://www.ncsconline.org/D_KIS/Trends/