Guilford County courts usher in new era
May 1—GUILFORD COUNTY — Attorneys and other members of the legal profession joined a new era in Guilford County this week with the local implementation of a modern-day digital system meant to handle court filings.
Guilford County is one of 10 counties in the central and north-central sections of the state to join the eCourts system as of Monday.
A little more than a quarter of North Carolina counties have joined eCourts as the state phases in the program through groups of counties at different intervals. Implementation of eCourts in some initial counties has led to glitches and delays.
The ambitious eCourts effort, which was formally proposed several years ago, intends to make court filings digital and accessible remotely. Historically, court records in North Carolina have been accessible to the public only by going to a county clerk's office and retrieving paper copies of records.
The first day for eCourts in Guilford County went smoothly Monday, said Jim Hundley, executive partner with the High Point law firm Wyatt Early Harris Wheeler.
"You've got a learning curve, we do as well as the clerk's office," Hundley told The High Point Enterprise. "We've been anticipating this for a couple months. So it's not like it snuck up on us."
The court system has held training sessions on eCourts leading up to the official roll out of the program, and Hundley said that his legal firm provided in-house instruction as well.
Hundley said that bringing the courts fully into the digital era will fundamentally improve dealing with the judicial system.
"Historically you walk into the clerk's office and hand them papers to be filed and give them a check if there's a cost," he said. "Now it will all be done electronically."
The eCourts system also will allow people to access court filings remotely and conveniently instead of having to travel to a courthouse, Hundley said.
pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul
