CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Supreme Court is closing in the completion of the statewide e-filing system.
As of January 29, all but two of the state’s 55 counties will be part of the system, according to the court’s Public Information Officer Jennifer Bundy. Circuit and family courts in those counties have been fully implemented.
Cabell County is folded into the system Monday.Kanawha and Monongalia counties will be moving to the system in the coming months.
“Because the final counties are larger, implementation will take more time than in prior counties,” Bundy said.
Bundy said court staff and attorneys generally report they prefer e-filing more than the traditional paper-based system.
With no major issues slowing the work, Bundy said the court’s current focus is on completing statewide implementation of the e-filing and case management system.
“There are two primary components to the system,” she said. “First, court staff and judicial system users access a case management system. Judges and staff have access to everything in the system. Attorneys have access to all cases where they are counsel of record. Second, the public has access to non-confidential case information through public access terminals in circuit clerks’ offices in all e-filing counties.
“Public access to court documents at a minimal cost is very important to this court.”
She said a timeline and a plan for public web-based access is subject to further agreement between the court and the outside vendor.
“In the meantime, public access is provided through public-access terminals in circuit clerks’ offices in all e-filing counties,” Bundy said.
As of August 1, the court had paid just over $7.4 million on the project. The contract was executed in 2016 and included several sliding-scale calculations based on the implementation schedule and revenue assumptions. The current cost is “consistent with more recent estimates made by current staff,” Bundy said.
Attorneys who have used the statewide e-filing system have expressed positive and negative points about it.
Some who asked not to be identified have said getting copies of filings sometimes is a challenge, even in cases they’re working. One called it “clunky.”
Others have noted they don’t have access to any filings in a case until they’re named an attorney of record. So if a defendant hires an attorney two months after the case has been filed, that attorney doesn’t have access to filings before that date, including the original complaint.
That means lawyers sometimes have to contact the county circuit court to get copies of filings in their own cases.
Still, other noted the benefits.
“The state e-filing system is now and is going to continue to be an efficient way to access the courts,” Charleston attorney L. Dante diTrapano said. “For our practice, the biggest advantage is how e-filing extends the work day to midnight.”
Ben Salango agreed.
“The state e-filing system saves money and time,” the Charleston attorney said. “It has made filing very efficient. Although there have been a few bugs, in my view, it has been a tremendous success and a wonderful addition to the practice of law in West Virginia.”
Another attorney said he hopes to see improvements and upgrades soon.
“It’s time we caught up with the technology and have everything online,” Charleston attorney Rusty Webb said. “Take the federal system, for example. They’ve been doing it for years with PACER (Personal Access to Court Electronic Records). It’s easy and efficient, and everything is right there.
“Hopefully, with electronic filing, you soon will be able to review all docket sheets and filed documents. Right now, you still have to go to the courthouse to do it. With the federal system, you don’t have to do that.”
