Chief Judge John Minton and other court officials said the electronic filing system will do more than just make filing easier for attorneys. In the future, citizens will be able to look up cases online and examine documents.
Minton was joined by several other District, Circuit and Appeals Court judges Thursday in the Holbrook Judicial Center to praise the roll-out of the court system's electronic filing system. Minton, who as chief judge is head of the Administrative Office of the Courts, said the agency has slowly been spreading the electronic filing system across the state.
The system allows attorneys to file court documents electronically, day or night. The advantage is that attorneys won't have to send an assistant or runner to the county courthouse — or across the state to the courthouse where the case is being heard — to file documents, Daviess Circuit Jay Wethington told the audience of mostly court workers at Thursday's presentation.
"When it's implemented across the commonwealth, it will provide easier access to the courts" for everyone, Wethington said.
In terms of modernizing the way the courts do business, "Kentucky is in the forefront," Wethington said.
Minton said the Daviess County clerk's office began accepting the electronic filing of documents on Sept. 30.
Currently, there are 10 counties that have connected to the AOC's e-filing system. Since e-filing began as a pilot program in Franklin County in December, 1,800 court documents have been electronically filed, Minton said.
"We're finding that people are filing their cases on weekends and after-hours," Minton said. "It makes the court system much more accessible."
Daviess Circuit Clerk Susan Tierney, who was a member of the AOC's technology committee, said deputy clerks often see a surge at the end of the day when an attorney or assistant brings in documents that need to be filed in a case before the close of business. With e-filing, the attorney will be able to file documents as they are completed.
"What I think will be great down the road is, if an attorney has five or six documents to file, he can file them as he does them," Tierney said.
The court system was ready to implement e-filing six years ago, but state funding for the project was not available, Tierney said.
E-filing is one aspect of the AOC's $28 million upgrade of the agency's case management system. District Judge John McCarty, who is judge for Hancock, Ohio, Butler and Edmonson counties, is also a member of the technology committee. McCarty said the case management system was in need of an overhaul.
"We're using, basically, the same court system we were using in 1979," McCarty said. "... If it breaks tomorrow, we're in trouble."
When fully implemented, the public will be able to examine open records on pending cases, McCarty said.
"We need more transparency in the court system," McCarty said.
While all 10 counties currently using e-filing can accept documents in civil lawsuits, Daviess County is the only county thus far where motions in criminal documents can be filed electronically as well.
Some issues have yet to be resolved. For example, AOC officials have discussed how they will extend e-filing to prisons, where many inmates file motions on their own behalf, said Kelly Stephens, the agency's legal project manager. A system will also have to be created to help people who are representing themselves in court to file electronically. People who represent themselves are subject to the same filing deadlines at attorneys.
"As we introduce new technology, we're mindful of access to justice," Stephens said.
©2014 the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.)
