For a government body that touts itself as being open and transparent, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals sure has a funny way of showing it.
Take, for example, what happened at a January 25 press conference – one that was called, mind you, to announce online access to statewide magistrate court records.
Not only did I attend because The West Virginia Record is the state’s only legal journal that has covered the court system more thoroughly than any other media outlet for almost 20 years, but also because I, as editor of The Record, constantly have asked questions about and fought for more access to public court records not only for the media, but for the citizens of the state.
Dickerson
| File photo
In fact, just last week during a phone interview with new Chief Justice Tim Armstead about his plans for 2024, I again asked him about progress with the court’s statewide e-filing system. And, as I have done every year when I talked to the new chief justice, I expressed concerns about the lack of online access to court filings, particularly civil lawsuits in the state’s circuit courts.
Some background might be in order here. Since we began The Record in 2005, our goal has been to tell the public about what’s happening in our civil court system. For decades, media coverage of the courts had been in decline for a number of reasons. But basically, there was very little coverage of courts except for the occasional high-profile murder trial. We wanted to shine a light on the civil justice system.
Anyway, I again offered myself up to Armstead as guinea pig if there was a way to provide access to me for any online access to the circuit courts, even if a subscription or some sort of fee was required. That includes the statewide circuit court e-filing system, which will house 53 of the state’s 55 counties as of January 29.
During that phone interview, Armstead mentioned the January 25 press conference about online access to magistrate records and said Pat Moats, the court’s director of technology and facility services, would be there. He told me it would be a great opportunity to talk to her face-to-face and ask questions about future plans for any online access to court filings.
So, I arrived for the press conference in the court’s law library in the state Capitol a few minutes before it was scheduled to begin. Jennifer Bundy, the court’s fantastic public information officer, greeted me. And because I already had told her of my plan to try to ask these questions, Bundy immediately introduced me to Moats, whom I never had met. Because the press conference was about to begin, I told Moats I wanted to talk to her afterward, and she seemingly agreed.
This is when it gets bizarre.
As soon as the brief press conference was over while other reporters went up front to get their video and sound bites from Armstead, I turned the other direction and walked toward Moats, who was standing 10 feet or so away from me toward the door. As I took those steps, Deputy Director Evan Lynch quickly stepped in front of me to stop me from getting closer to Moats.
“You can talk to the Chief Justice,” Lynch told me.
“I have, and I also want to talk to Pat Moats,” I replied.
“Well, you can talk to the Chief Justice,” Lynch reiterated.
“Again, I did,” I replied. “And he suggested I attend this press conference to talk to Pat Moats.”
“Well, if the Chief Justice wants you to talk to her, he can say so,” Lynch said.
Flabbergasted, I look around the room. Did this really just happen? Did a state court administrator, one of two who report directly to Administrator Joe Armstrong, basically sprint a few feet to stop me from talking to another state Supreme Court employee? It was as if Lynch was an offensive lineman trying to keep me from sacking the quarterback.
Granted, I was a decent defensive end in my younger days, but I only wanted to ask a few simple questions here because I had been told Moats would be the best person to provide answers. But she already had left the room, and so had my primary purpose of attending the press conference in person.
I did go talk to Armstead. Knowing why I was there, he immediately told me Moats was there somewhere to talk. I then told him what had happened, even pointing out Lynch as the one who had tried to bully me.
Armstead apologized, but I was past the point of being frustrated. And he apologized again the next morning when he called me after I had submitted my questions in writing to the court. At that point, I didn't know Lynch's name. So I asked at least four times on the phone – and at least three times via email – for her name, but I never was told by anyone with the court. I eventually confirmed her identity through other sources..
Why Moats didn’t want to talk is beyond me, but there are several other ways it all could have handled the situation. First, Moats simply could have said she didn’t want to or couldn’t talk about it. Or, she could have said she didn’t have answers to my questions. Or, she could have said she wasn’t the best person to answer my questions. Hell, she could have just never returned to the law library after she noticeably exited momentarily before returning when the justices and Lynch entered the room.
Or, based on how the court typically operates, she could have said she needed to run it by the Justices before she answered my questions.
All of those would have been copouts, but they would have been better ways to handle the situation. And, let’s be honest, it all just seems a little weird.
And we still have zero idea about when the court plans to provide more access to state circuit court filings. As Armstead and other justices have told me, it’s all part of the plan. But no one can say when it will happen or even begin to take shape.
Again, some more background might be in order. For years, the state’s circuit court computer systems have been operated by a handful of companies. Each company had different ways of handling documents. The largest one was a company called Software Computer Group, and it operated a system called Circuit Express. When The Record was created, 41 counties were on Circuit Express. It was the only one that provided such access, and we had a subscription and access to those filings.
Today, as the state rightfully moves toward a statewide uniform system, we have access only to one county – Kanawha – on Circuit Express. So, we believe it’s important to have some way to look at civil court filings from across the state while understanding there are going to be hiccups and problems to address along the way as the court envelopes counties into this new system.
But, let’s be honest. It’s 2024. When we started The Record in 2005, the internet was vastly different. State governments didn’t have the online presence or capabilities they do now. We understood that. We realized the limitations and found ways to provide the most complete coverage of the courts.
Today, things are different. Many court systems across the country have everything online. Almost every West Virginia Supreme Court and Intermediate Court of Appeals filing is accessible, as are most Business Court Division and Mass Litigation Panel filings for free. The entire federal court system is available online through a subscription service called PACER, which stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records.
Speaking of electronic, every circuit court filing in the state is just that. They are stored as PDFs. PDFs are easy to transmit online in many ways, even if a court clerk simply has to email them to someone. Gone are the days when someone had to take the time to pull a paper file and photocopy multiple pages to provide a copy of a court document.
Also, West Virginia is a geographically large and diverse. It takes almost six hours to cross the state from east to west and almost five hours north to south, even longer for both if you stay inside the state boundaries. And there are 55 county courthouses. It’s practically impossible to visit each courthouse regularly. Having public access terminals at every courthouse is fantastic for those who need them at each courthouse, but it doesn’t help The Record provide thorough coverage.
The bottom line is that the West Virginia court system is less transparent now than it was almost 20 years ago. In fact, it’s less open now than it was six years ago when a sitting justice was indicted on fraud and other charges and sentenced to federal prison.
The court can talk about transparency all it wants, and it has. A quick search of stories on our website about the court that includes the word “transparent” or a similar word numbers in the dozens.
But, the real numbers don’t lie. Again, we had online access to 41 counties in 2005. Today, we have access to one. And when Kanawha County is sucked into the new statewide e-filing system sometime in the next few months, we won’t even have access to it.
And when I say we, I’m not just talking about The Record. I’m talking about the public. We fully understand most people aren’t going to look up court filings either online or in person. But, everyone should have access to the courts – not just as a litigant, but as a member of the public.
Remember, the courts belong to us. The justices, the judges, court officials, even deputy administrators … they work for us. It’s trite, but it’s true: Our taxes pay their salary. And in 2024, we should be able to easily access court records online.
Dickerson is the editor of The West Virginia Record.
