(The Center Square) – A pilot eCourts program to transition to online court records in Harnett, Johnston, Lee and Wake counties has been “a nightmare” since it launched two months ago, critics contend.
“It’s terrible,” Parrish Daughtry, a Harnett County criminal defense attorney, told The Center Square. “It’s the most frustrating attempt at technology I’ve had to deal with in the 23 years I’ve been practicing law.”
The pilot transition from paper to digital, implemented by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts in February, is intended to create a more efficient criminal justice system through integrated case management software, electronic warrants, electronic filings and other improvements.
Glitches in the system, outages, delays and limited access to court records, however, are causing major issues for attorneys and their clients. Included are longer than necessary court appearances for routine requests, delayed protection orders, wrongful arrests, and other alleged constitutional violations.
“People are being wrongfully detained. People are being wrongfully arrested,” Daughtry said. “There are some real constitutional … issues. (The Administrative Office of the Courts) is intentionally and willfully violating those rights every day.”
“It is just a nightmare,” she said.
The situation prompted House Minority Leader Robert Reives, D-Chatham, this week to pen a letter to Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, calling for a legislative investigation into the eCourts rollout.
“I am asking Speaker Moore to direct one of the investigative bodies of the House of Representatives to look into the eCourts rollout because it has had such a negative impact on communities across our state,” Reives said. “This rollout has been marred by glitches and setbacks from the beginning, and North Carolinians deserve to understand what went wrong and how we can improve in the future.”
Reives contends in his letter that “despite an initial bill for the State of $100 million, the project has had cost overruns in the millions, and has inflicted costs that are difficult to quantify in terms of additional time and labor for judges and attorneys as the dockets of courts in pilot counties have slowed to a glacial pace due to bugs, an overly complex user interface system, and lack of training and awareness on the part of its users in how to navigate the system.”
“It remains an open question whether these delays and filing errors will expose the State to civil liability which could cost the State millions more in damages and labor hours spent defending the State in court,” he wrote.
Daughtery said that while she and others have offered solutions to some of the problems, other issues, such as the lack of broadband internet in many areas, can’t be fixed in the short term.
“Those solutions are not being implemented and there’s a lack of concern about how it affects the public,” she said. “I do believe it needs to be investigated.”
Tyler Technologies, the vendor for the transition, has referred media inquiries to the Administrative Office of the Courts. Reives noted the vendor has faced similar issues for court related IT systems in Tennessee and California.
Communications officials at the Administrative Office of the Courts declined The Center Square’s interview request and instead offered a prepared statement from Communications Director Graham Wilson issued Thursday.
“Regrettably, NCAOC learned of Leader Reives’ letter through the media late this afternoon,” the statement read. “Despite NCAOC representatives meeting with him twice this session to discuss eCourts, Leader Reives has never shared the misstatements of fact contained within his letter directly with NCAOC.
“NCAOC continues to work with stakeholders to resolve issues and ensure the success of this once-in-a-generation digital transformation.”
In the meantime, Daughtry said, court officials are working nights and weekends to keep dockets moving.
“The people tasked with implementing this system are absolutely killing themselves to make it work,” she said.
This article First appeared in the center square