No NC court records online; that changes July 22; but suit claims wrongful arrests

ASHEVILLE - Need a court record? You'll have to go to the courthouse, pay for parking if you're driving, go through security, locate the record and pay for a copy.

On July 22 that is set to change in Western North Carolina with the advent of eCourts, an online records system.

“The eCourts transition is the most important access to justice project in the history of the N.C. court system, and the benefits to the public of replacing paper records with digital access are immense,” said N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts Director Ryan Boyce in an announcement earlier this year about the planned change in WNC.

But rollouts in other parts of N.C. have not been smooth, according to critics and a federal lawsuit that said eCourts led to the violation of people's constitutional rights.

The state's new cloud-hosted court software will integrate with law enforcement documents, featuring a paperless process, electronic filing and a free online search portal, Boyce said.

"As Enterprise Justice expands statewide, millions more North Carolinians gain mobile access to their courthouse, saving time and providing transparency," the NCAOC director said.

Specific benefits, according to Boyce, include:

• Empowering the public to access and file records with the justice system online "24/7" instead of only inside courthouses during business hours.
• Reducing travel time through shared digital access to records and remote hearings.
• Integrating with public safety systems to help court officials and law enforcement access critical information through connected applications.
• Assisting users in drafting and filing the most common legal actions through the "Guide & File" automated interview service.
• Replacing printed forms and records with electronic workflows to save millions of sheets of paper and valuable courthouse space.
• Standardizing court business processes to promote consistency statewide.
• Introducing courthouse kiosks that provide printing, scanning, payment services and direct access to eCourts applications.

But others say the system has been plagued with sluggish loading screens, court slowdowns and even unlawful arrests.

"The eCourts launch has caused people to spend days or weeks longer than necessary in jail. Others have been arrested multiple times on the same warrant − even after their charges have been dismissed by a judge," said the lawsuit filed last year in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of N.C. by plaintiff's who claimed breach of civil rights.

Defendants include eCourts software contractor Tyler Technologies of Texas and sheriffs in Mecklenburg and Wake counties.

In the latest filing, Mecklenburg Sheriff Gary McFadden argued June 7 in support of a previously filed motion to dismiss, saying plaintiffs failed to show he "disregarded a (jail) release order, knew the details of release orders yet kept plaintiffs incarcerated or that he knew they had release orders at all."

McFadden said his knowledge of release orders would depend on a judicial official entering them in the eCourts system and then the system delivering that order to his office.

The defendants, including Timia Chaplin of Wake County − who was arrested a month after the dismissal of her charges − have argued against McFadden's April 4 motion to dismiss, saying the sheriff publicly acknowledged “wait times are much longer (than before)" and said his office had been inundated by calls from people worried about when loved ones would be released.

The Citizen Times reached out July 12 to Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams and Chief Public Defender Sam Snead, asking for comment on the eCourts transition happening in less than two weeks.

In March, Snead told the Citizen Times he expected the change to be difficult but that it was a necessary "modernization of the court."

“It’s just something that we’ve been putting off for decades, literally, and it just needs to happen. There’s never going to be a good time, and it’s going to be completely unpleasant and extremely frustrating," the chief public defender said.

Williams, also commenting in March, said he visited Mecklenburg County to look at the system in operation and spoke several times with DA Spencer B. Merriweather III.

"Data integrity, privacy, victim security, defendants getting released when they're supposed to be released, accurate information being kept in public record — all those are concerns," he said.

The Buncombe prosecutor said he was "somewhat encouraged" during his Mecklenburg trip and hoped the problems seen in other counties could be mitigated.

But a month after those comments, the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys , of which Merriweather and Williams are members, called for a pause in the rollout. Merriweather told a state legislative committee April 4 the system risks putting out crime victim information " for all the world to see − including information accessible to the very assailant from whom that victim may be trying to protect herself."

The Citizen Times reached out July 12 to the DA's conference.

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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: No NC court records online; that changes July 22; but suit claims wrongful arrests