West Virginia Courts Catching Up To 21st Century

Monongalia County's (WV) magistrate court is the second in the state to begin using a new computer system that will likely link court records throughout West Virginia by 2016.

The Unified Judicial Application (UJA) system eventually will allow area residents to obtain information about crimes that occur elsewhere in the state without leaving Monongalia County -- or their homes.

A new public-access terminal was set up at Monongalia County Magistrate Court last week.

Supreme Court Administrator Steve Canterbury hopes court records will be available to the public online after a third of the state's 55 counties begin using the UJA system at the magistrate court level.