Paperless court filing system now complete in every county in Iowa

Court workers in all 99 Iowa counties can now file court documents online and residents, lawyers and law enforcement personnel in each county can now file court cases online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The project started five years ago with the pilot Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) in Plymouth County, and was completed Tuesday when documents were electronically filed in Allamakee, Chickasaw, Howard and Winneshiek counties.

In the 6th Judicial, Linn County went 'live” in three steps from April to May 2014; Johnson in July 2014; Benton, Iowa and Tama in December 2014; and Jones on April 7.

"This is a truly transformational event that is changing the way the courts operate and serve Iowans," Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady said Wednesday. "EDMS gives more and more court users, including our citizens, law enforcement officers, the Department of Human Services, and hospitals secure, prompt, and easy access to judges, court records, and the court system.”

Iowa is the first court system in the nation to have a paperless process for all cases at the district court level, Cady said. The appellate court will be completed later this year.

Ken Bosier, Iowa Court Information Systems director, said the judicial branch started discussing the electronic system in the late 1990s.

"Today's achievement can be attributed to the dedication of the judicial branch IT and contracted staff, and to the many judges, court employees, and court users who volunteered their time and expertise to develop the rules and processes necessary for the success of this innovative project,” Bosier said.

In the five years since the first document was filed in Plymouth County, nearly 2 million cases have been filed online or by using one of the public access computers located in courthouses around the state. The electronic cases included more than 6.5 million documents filed by nearly 88,000 users.

Officials said the implementation has made the court more efficient by relieving the court clerks from case management so they can work on other vital duties such as helping self-represented litigants and members of the public unfamiliar with the electronic system. The system also allows judges and employees to work on cases from any location in the state and the documents can now be viewed or accessed by multiple people at a time, unlike paper files.

Officials also pointed out that a clerk's office in one or more counties can now process all the traffic tickets issued in other counties across the state, or the clerk's office in one county can absorb some of the overflow work of a clerk's office in another county.

One shortcoming of the system is that the public can't go into a specific case and view or download documents from their home or office, unless the individual is involved in the case. They will still have to go to their local courthouse and use one of the public computers to have full access.

Sixth Judicial District Court Administrator Carroll Edmondson said Wednesday he didn't know if officials had discussed making the state system accessible like the federal system where any member of the public can download from the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (Pacer) site for a fee. He said one issue would be protecting privacy because some of the files or documents may not be open to the public.

Steve Davis, Iowa Judicial Branch communications officer, said the court rules regarding EDMS will be reviewed now that all 99 counties are completed.

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com