If you’ve noticed fewer lawyers hanging around the circuit court building downtown recently, there is at least one explanation.
Richmond Circuit Court has launched an online access system that allows users to view case files via the Internet.
“They don’t have to come downtown. They don’t have to find a place to park,” said Richmond Circuit Court Clerk Bevill Dean. “They can do everything they do at the courthouse in their office.”
The online system launched officially in August for attorneys and law enforcement officials. Users pay $100 per year, and the response has been steady. Dean said the system picks up one to three new users a day on average.
The new system is part of a statewide program that aims to eventually have all files from every circuit court across the state available online.
Localities are slowly getting on board, Dean said.
Locally, Hanover County Circuit Court is going digital and is one of the first smaller jurisdictions to do so.
Norfolk Circuit Court was the pilot locality for the system.
The move toward some higher-tech systems for the Richmond Circuit Court began Jan. 1 when it began scanning all new case files and having them available digitally on computer stations around the courthouse.
Taking everything online was taking yet another leap.
“We’ve been studying this for roughly two years to make the implementation as easy as possible, because it’s a radical change,” Dean said. “Everyone has been used to having paper files.”
But paper won’t go away completely.
By law, circuit courts still have to keep paper copies of case files. Dean said the state clerks association will petition the General Assembly to approve a set length of time for keeping paper files on site. Dean is pushing for three to five years.
Going digital will save the court money in the long run, Dean said.
Not only will the court collect fees from users of the online system, Dean said eliminating things as simple as the file folders will amount to big savings.
For every case that is filed in the circuit court, Dean said his office pays between $0.98 and $1.32 for a single file folder.
Digitizing everything will also make manpower more efficient by reducing the need for clerk office employees to run around three floors trying to locate files.
No one has complained about the $100 annual fee, which Dean said helps cover the costs the locality pays the state supreme court for access to the system.
“We’re not trying to make big bucks off it,” Dean said. “We’re just trying to break even.”
Dean said he was not at liberty to discuss how much his court pays for the service.
Although such a system may seem high tech to those who are used to the old way of doing things, municipal courts are a bit behind the technological curve on this one.
“Federal courts have been using e-file for a long time,” Dean said. “State courts are little bit behind.”
Part of the reason the state and local courts are late to the digital game is the number of circuits and clerks.
“The state also has to deal with more disparate courts — large urban courts and smaller rural courts,” Dean said. “The needs at different sizes aren’t the same, and it’s hard to get everyone to come on board and do the exact same thing.”
Now if only Chesterfield and Henrico Circuit Courts will join the 21st century.
If you’ve noticed fewer lawyers hanging around the circuit court building downtown recently, there is at least one explanation.
Richmond Circuit Court has launched an online access system that allows users to view case files via the Internet.
“They don’t have to come downtown. They don’t have to find a place to park,” said Richmond Circuit Court Clerk Bevill Dean. “They can do everything they do at the courthouse in their office.”
The online system launched officially in August for attorneys and law enforcement officials. Users pay $100 per year, and the response has been steady. Dean said the system picks up one to three new users a day on average.
The new system is part of a statewide program that aims to eventually have all files from every circuit court across the state available online.
Localities are slowly getting on board, Dean said.
Locally, Hanover County Circuit Court is going digital and is one of the first smaller jurisdictions to do so.
Norfolk Circuit Court was the pilot locality for the system.
The move toward some higher-tech systems for the Richmond Circuit Court began Jan. 1 when it began scanning all new case files and having them available digitally on computer stations around the courthouse.
Taking everything online was taking yet another leap.
“We’ve been studying this for roughly two years to make the implementation as easy as possible, because it’s a radical change,” Dean said. “Everyone has been used to having paper files.”
But paper won’t go away completely.
By law, circuit courts still have to keep paper copies of case files. Dean said the state clerks association will petition the General Assembly to approve a set length of time for keeping paper files on site. Dean is pushing for three to five years.
Going digital will save the court money in the long run, Dean said.
Not only will the court collect fees from users of the online system, Dean said eliminating things as simple as the file folders will amount to big savings.
For every case that is filed in the circuit court, Dean said his office pays between $0.98 and $1.32 for a single file folder.
Digitizing everything will also make manpower more efficient by reducing the need for clerk office employees to run around three floors trying to locate files.
No one has complained about the $100 annual fee, which Dean said helps cover the costs the locality pays the state supreme court for access to the system.
“We’re not trying to make big bucks off it,” Dean said. “We’re just trying to break even.”
Dean said he was not at liberty to discuss how much his court pays for the service.
Although such a system may seem high tech to those who are used to the old way of doing things, municipal courts are a bit behind the technological curve on this one.
“Federal courts have been using e-file for a long time,” Dean said. “State courts are little bit behind.”
Part of the reason the state and local courts are late to the digital game is the number of circuits and clerks.
“The state also has to deal with more disparate courts — large urban courts and smaller rural courts,” Dean said. “The needs at different sizes aren’t the same, and it’s hard to get everyone to come on board and do the exact same thing.”
Now if only Chesterfield and Henrico Circuit Courts will join the 21st century.
“a little bit behind” is an understatement. Several years and technological miles behind would be a more accurate way of describing the difference in the electronic access between state and federal courts. Richmond’s Circuit Court deserves commendation and encouragement, including whatever legislative changes they need, in adopting electronic case files with access available to people outside the court itself.