Electronic Case Management System
Court transitions to electronic filing system
EL CENTRO – The Superior Court of California, Imperial County, recently adopted an electronic case management system that is expected to increase accessibility and has allowed it to transition away from paper documents.
The new case management system, eCourt, already is being credited with allowing judges and personnel from the District Attorney’s and Public Defender’s offices to conveniently access documents related to cases currently being heard in the courts.
Soon counsel from both agencies, as well as private attorneys, will have the opportunity to file their respective documents electronically as well.
“We’re trying to make it as accessible to all our justice partners,” said county Court Executive Officer Maria Rhinehart. “The idea is to provide greater access to the justice system here.”
In the near future, the public is also expected to enjoy the same convenience of being able to electronically file court documents without having to visit a local courthouse.
The transition to eCourt, by Journal Technologies, had come at the prompting of the state, which had requested statewide Superior Courts update their case management systems.
It is a web-based system that allows its users access from any device in the court. Once documents are scanned into the system, they are available for review within minutes, officials said.
The system went live in November, but had taken months prior to that to get completely configured, said Luis Olachea, county court systems analyst.
The local courts are also currently in the process of digitizing older adjudicated cases from the past year and a half. Digitizing efforts are given priority to cases currently on calendar and will eventually involve the digitizing of decades-old court documents that are archived on microfilm.
“We’re slowly digitizing cases that have priority,” Olachea said. “We’re trying to find a balance right now.”
The public also has the opportunity to view court documents related to current civil and criminal cases on public terminals located at the courthouse of Main Street in El Centro. A similar terminal is expected to become available at the Brawley courthouse in about six month, Rhinehart said.