$100M eCourts system faces its own litigation during rollout.
A Lawsuit Challenges Flaws in New Electronic Court Filing System
A lawsuit alleging unlawful arrests and detainments due to flaws in a new $100 million electronic court filing system is gaining momentum as officials prepare to expand the program.
Defendants in a class action lawsuit against software company Tyler Technologies have been served and now have 30 days to respond to allegations that the pilot transition to the eCourts system in four counties is violating people’s constitutional rights.
Expanding eCourts System
The latest development in the eCourts rollout comes as court officials prepare to add Mecklenburg County to the system in October.
The North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts launched the eCourts transition from paper to digital records in February in Harnett, Johnston, Lee, and Wake counties. However, the system immediately faced complaints of glitches, outages, delays, and limited access to court records.
These issues, which have persisted for months, have resulted in longer court appearances, delayed protection orders, allegations of wrongful arrests, and delayed jail releases. Attorneys have expressed concerns about the complications caused by the system.
Details of the Lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed by Durham attorney Zack Ezor in May, targets Tyler Technologies and sheriffs in Lee and Wake counties. It provides examples of alleged constitutional violations, including delayed jail releases and multiple arrests from the same warrant.
For instance, the lawsuit mentions a case where a Lee County resident’s jail release was wrongly delayed for two weeks due to a lost case file. Another case involves a Triangle resident who was arrested for failure to appear in court in March, then rearrested on the same warrant after her case was dismissed in April.
The lawsuit seeks $5 million in damages, requests the court to block Wake and Lee county sheriffs from using the system, and aims to delay further rollout of eCourts until the issues are resolved.
Similar litigation against Tyler Technologies in Texas, California, Tennessee, and Indiana is also highlighted in the lawsuit, suggesting that North Carolina’s issues were foreseeable.
Response from Officials
Officials from the North Carolina court system and Tyler Technologies have declined to comment on the lawsuit. However, they have emphasized improvements made in recent months and the benefits of the new system.
“To date, the eCourts pilot counties have successfully accepted over 287,503 electronic filings. Statewide, more than 39,000 interviews have been completed to create a court filing in eCourts’ Guide & File application that assists self-represented litigants with many of the most common legal matters,” according to a recent release from the North Carolina Judicial Branch. “An average of 10,000 electronic searches are conducted each day through the eCourts Portal, saving countless trips to the courthouse with free digital records access for the public.
“Improvements to system speed and stability, refinements of programming integrations, and standardization of new business processes have been key accomplishments during the pilot phase that prepared the platform for deployment to Mecklenburg County,” the release added.
The eCourts expansion to Mecklenburg County, the second largest by population behind Wake, is now scheduled for October 9th after a delay from the original launch date in May. The statewide rollout will continue with additional county groupings until all counties are included by the end of 2025, as stated by the judicial branch.
“We are proud of the progress North Carolina courts are making to fulfill our constitutional mandate that the courts ‘shall be open’ by upgrading paper processes to deliver digital access to the courthouse with a 21st-century justice system,” said Ryan Boyce, director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.
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