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Monday, January 07, 2008
Courts - In Maine, push made to post court data on Web
In a story last Thursday, Jan. 3rd from the Portland Maine Press Herald, Trevor Maxwell reported:
If you want to see a document from a case in Maine's court system, you have to visit the appropriate county courthouse, wait in line and review the hard copy. In some instances, you need a docket number or other information to find the file.It's a far cry from the federal courts, which let you search most documents from your home computer.
Leaders in Maine's judicial branch hope to close that technological gap as much as possible beginning this year. * * *
"In the world we live in, people are used to getting things quickly and easily," said Ted Glessner, the state courts' administrator. "We are behind where a number of other states are, but I don't think dramatically behind."
Glessner said the concept of keeping records online has been discussed for years, but has been stalled recently. One reason is that some people expected to leap completely from the paper system to a computerized one.
The idea now is to start small and get at least some case information online, Glessner said. The ultimate goal -- electronic filing and access across the board -- remains distant.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 7, 2008 12:33 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts