The North Carolina Judicial Branch announced that its digital court records system – eCourts – has been expanded to include 11 additional counties in western North Carolina.
This expansion marks the halfway point of the eCourts implementation for district and superior courts in all 100 counties in the state.
“This eCourts milestone highlights the diverse landscapes of our great state – connecting citizens from Murphy to Manteo – as historic progress replacing isolated paper files with digital court records reaches the westernmost regions of North Carolina,” said North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (NCAOC) Director Ryan S. Boyce.
Currently, the eCourts system serves about half of North Carolina’s population in jurisdictions that include the state’s three largest cities and counties across the Triangle, Triad, Outer Banks, and northeast regions.
Thus far, more than one million electronic filings have been accepted through eCourts. The court system said the electronic filings have saved an estimated four million pieces of paper since February 2023.
Additionally, the eCourts Portal application provides the public no-cost access to digital court records and averages more than 1.5 million online searches per month. The NCAOC also introduced courthouse kiosks this summer that provide a public access point for scanning, printing, payment services, and online search and filing in eCourts applications.
According to the state, other benefits of the eCourts transition include:
- Helping customers file common legal actions through the online Guide and File service that assists users with an interview-style forms process.
- Empowering the public with access to justice online 24/7 to check court dates, find records, and file documents instead of limiting access to courthouses during business hours.
- Reducing travel time to courthouses for the public by expanding videoconferencing and creating shared digital access to records.
- Connecting eCourts systems with public safety systems to help court officials and law enforcement file and access critical information.
- Updating hardware infrastructure, network bandwidth, and wireless connectivity in courthouses to improve internet connectivity for both court officials and the public.
- Updating cybersecurity and data recovery capability systems from mainframe technology to cloud services.
- Training the public about engaging with their court system through a centralized, easy-to-access hub with on-demand guidance and Q&As.
- Providing judges and staff remote access to electronic case files from different locations.
- Centralizing a statewide financial management system to facilitate more convenient, transparent, and timely payments to the court system.
- Reducing the number of returned forms that are filled out incorrectly resulting in court delays for self-represented litigants.
