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Court documents to be put online
Pine Belt residents may soon find it easier to access some court documents when they are put online in the near future.
Electronic filing of court documents is expected to be available soon in the chancery courts of Forrest, Lamar, Pearl River and Perry counties. Those four counties along with Marion County make up the 10th Chancery District, which will be the first court district in the state to implement district-wide e-filing in one operation.
While other districts have achieved complete coverage of e-filing, implementation there has been spread out over several years, with individual counties opting into the Mississippi Electronic Courts system.
Chancery courts in Clarke and Marion counties will begin voluntary electronic filing of court documents later this month and will move to mandatory electronic filing in mid-December.
“We really are on a fast track to go to Forrest and Lamar counties, then on to Pearl River and Perry counties,” said Chancery Judge Dawn Beam of Sumrall. She expects all counties of the 10th Chancery to be using electronic filing by March.
E-filing of court records allows judges and attorneys to file and view documents around-the-clock and makes public access to court records more convenient. The MEC system is adapted from the electronic-filing system used in federal district courts.
MEC technology and training are provided free to counties. The only cost to local courts is computer hardware and Internet access.
Beam said the district-wide use of e-filing will make it easier to get documents from around the Pine Belt.
“This will allow the court to access any case in the five counties from any location,” she said. “The court can better manage cases. Attorneys will be able to file in any of the five counties from their offices and access court records.
"Citizens are better served when cases are managed and heard in a timely manner.”
Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. hopes to expand the Mississippi Electronic Courts system statewide.
“We are about to take it to a new level,” he said.
Clarke County Chancery Court’s move to e-filing completes implementation of the system in the 12th Chancery District. Lauderdale County Chancery Court began using e-filing in February 2014.
“We are pleased the 12th Chancery Court District will operate through the Mississippi Electronic Courts system," said Senior Chancery Judge Jerry Mason of Meridian. "The addition of Clarke County to MEC will allow the chancery judges to review the documents filed in civil actions from either county and will allow us to be more efficient in the review of and the preparation for pending cases.”
With the addition of Clarke and Marion counties, a total of 33 trial courts and 21 counties now use the e-filing system.
The Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals also use e-filing.
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