By MATT LAMB
Insider Staff Writer
In October, the North Carolina Judicial Branch’s ongoing effort to modernize court filings and proceedings will go live in Moore County.
Known as the eCourts system, the suite provides for online court document filing for attorneys and self-represented litigants alongside a public access portal that allows the general public to search for court dates and records or make payments for fines and fees.
Developed by Texas-based Tyler Technologies, eCourts is a cloud-based system that integrates court records — formerly paperwork — like arrest warrants, traffic citations, child custody disputes, and domestic violence cases onto a digitized network.
Following a measured track-by-track rollout, eCourts is currently in use in 27 counties throughout the state, including Raleigh, Charlotte, and Greensboro, the state’s three largest metropolitan areas.
While the North Carolina Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) has said the program will revolutionize the judicial system throughout the state, the rollout has been anything but seamless.
In 2019, Tyler Tech. won a nearly 10-year $100 million contract to develop and implement eCourts and train and support court personnel on the program’s use.
In February 2023, eCourts was rolled out in Harnett, Johnston, Lee and Wake counties as a pilot program.
Shortly after that, the program was besieged with claims of flaws and glitches.
A class-action lawsuit was eventually filed in federal district court, blaming Tyler Tech. and eCourts for several wrongful detentions.
Individuals were allegedly arrested several times for the same warrant or after a judge had previously dismissed charges. Additionally, some defendants reported being unable to post bond following arrest.
Despite the lawsuit, the eCourts rollout is forthcoming in Moore County.
Clerk of Moore County Superior Court Todd Maness recently said that despite some state-wide hiccups, he is ready for the program.
Maness said that his office has been preparing for the rollout since 2023.
“The state is making training sessions available, and I’m making it mandatory for every member of my staff to go to training,” Maness said. “I’m also sending my staff to other counties that have it already so they can shadow, so they not only have training, they can see it working live.”
Maness also said the AOC will provide training sessions to local attorneys and their assistants.
“We want to help them be on the same page when we go live so that we can be squared away with everything.”
Regarding the ongoing lawsuits, Maness said he hopes the program’s shortcomings have been rectified.
“It’s a new program. Anytime you have a new program or new way of doing business, you are going to have bumps in the road; that’s why the state used four pilot counties.”
Maness sees eCourts as a valuable tool for the citizens of Moore County who are trying to navigate the court system.
“It will allow the citizens to do a lot from their homes, looking up information and filing things. It will be better for attorneys and better for their clients.”
He added, “We will work with citizens to make sure that they are served to the highest level we can. I want to assure people that we are going to be good regardless, and we will get through the rollout.”
Maness also said he wanted the community, particularly older residents, to know they can still file paper documents in the courthouse.
“Folks that don’t have access for whatever reason, there is a way to file,” he said. “Elderly folks, they need to be assured that if they do have something that they need to file and they don’t have access to a computer, while we encourage them to file on a computer, they can still come to the clerk’s office and they can file by paper.”
Maness said people without computers are also welcome to use the terminals in the clerk’s office to file on the eCourts platform.
Mike Newman, a local attorney and partner at Van Camp, Meacham, and Newman, said that he, too, thinks eCourts will facilitate the administration of justice in Moore County.
“I think most lawyers and paralegals recognize that the eCourts system ultimately will bring more efficiency to our state court filing process once all the glitches are worked out,” Newman explained.
“The program is in its infancy, and minor glitches should be expected during any major transition like this. Federal court e-filing through the PACER program has worked extremely well for over a decade, and I think our eCourt system will soon reach that same level of efficiency and success.”
Contact Matt Lamb at (910) 693-2479 or mlamb@thepilot.com
