Every day thousands of people stream into Wake County’s two courthouses for so many significant reasons.
They could be dealing with speeding tickets, misdemeanor or felony criminal charges or civil lawsuits. They seek domestic violence protection orders, changes to an estate, or custody of a child.
Until recently, all of those transactions were paper based. Judges’ physical signatures turned orders into actions like warrants for arrests, child support payments or permission to drive to the doctor’s office on a suspended license.
That changed last week as the North Carolina Judicial Branch moved to further digitize the state court system, starting with pilots in Wake, Johnston, Lee and Harnett counties.
The transition, which started Feb. 13 for Wake and Johnston, has not gone smoothly, according to interviews this week.
Attorneys expressed many frustrations, from private information being made public to clients being potentially wrongfully detained and glitches to getting driving privileges restored.
The system seems “half baked,” Wake defense attorney Charlie Gray said.
“Even stuff that works well is unbelievably slow,” he said.
Andrew Heath, director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of Courts, said he understands that some people are frustrated.
He also asks that people judge the changes after six months, not after several days.
“There is just no easy way to go through a transition of this magnitude without feeling that pain,” he said.
$100 million project
The shift to the new system, called eCourts, is intended to allow the public to pull up court information online, pay fines and fees and file court documents, like a small claims complaint or a name change.
The project is expected to cost more than $100 million over a 10-year contract that ends in 2029. Mecklenburg County is expected to roll out their eCourts around May, with additional county clusters expected to follow every 60 to 90 days until all courts are using the new system by 2025.
The system was rolled out before it was ready, Raleigh-based attorney Seth Blum said this week. Crucial functions didn’t exist.
It has improved, but the general public should expect slow downs, Blum said.
“The public, under the best of circumstances, finds the courts a bewildering place,” he said. “Now, they must be finding it bewildering and frustrating beyond belief.”
One concern, Grey said, was that after arrest warrants are canceled, the information isn’t making it to the database that police use.
Gray was also concerned about the court system’s inability to communicate with the Division of Motor Vehicles, and is concerned how that could affect people with recent tickets if it isn’t resolved.
“Little stuff like that was not thought out well,” he said.
Steven Gurley, who practices in Johnston, said he is worried the new system resulted in one of his clients spending a few extra days in jail. The charge was dismissed Feb. 13, the day the new system was rolled out, but Gurley’s client wasn’t released until later in the week because he and others weren’t notified, he said.
Gurley also expressed concern about his private cell number being shared on the new system.
A monumental transition
The state entered into a contract with the Texas-based Tyler Technologies in 2019 after a commission of court officials recommended the modernization of court record keeping.
Since then Tyler Technologies has successfully launched three elements in the lead up to the February pilot launch in Wake.
The first two, an online guide that helps people file out court documents and an electronic ticketing application, launched successfully, Heath said.
The third, which focused on warrants, was custom built and launched in July 2022. Delays and challenges with that product forced the state to push back the launch of the eCourts pilots from October to February, Heath said.
“It was a rough beginning,” he said, but the errors have been resolved,
Tyler Technologies and state officials are working through the challenges on the most recent launch.
The issue with officers being informed about recalled warrants is resolved, Heath said, and he is meeting with the Division of Motor Vehicles on Friday.
‘Growing pain stage’
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said there have been improvements and proficiencies in the first few days of the change, but also a fair number of outstanding issues.
A Wake County court leadership team discusses the issues daily and reports them to Tyler Technologies and state officials.
Freeman says if the software issues are addressed quickly, she thinks the system will iron out. But if some of the issues continue for weeks and months, she said, it would be problematic.
In addition to working out all the kinks, it also takes some time for employees and attorneys to learn and adjust to the new system and even out work load shifts, Freeman said.
“We are building the plane while we are flying it,” said Wake District Judge Ashleigh Parker Dunston, who is president of the 10th Judicial District and Wake County Bar Association.
Dunston, who has been working in civil court on child support cases, said she has already seen improvements from last week to this, even from Monday to Thursday.
“We were like ‘this was a great day’ ,” she told The News & Observer Thursday.
Wake County Chief District Judge Ned Mangum stressed that the change is historic and needed.
The old mainframes are more than 40 years old, he said.
“It is hard to find anybody that works on them,” he said.
Once the changes are finished, it will provide unprecedented access to court documents, Heath and others said.
Instead of having to drive and find a parking place at the local courthouse, people will be able to pull up that information online, for instance.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The News & Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published February 24, 2023 12:47 PM.
