Courts approach full online access

For generations, anyone who wanted information about a court case in Douglas County had to walk into the courthouse and obtain a file from a clerk to see what was inside.

Even as the county prepares to build its first structure almost entirely dedicated to the judiciary, work continues on a virtual courthouse that will allow filing and research on cases to go online around the end of the year.

“We are about 90 days out from going live on e-filing,” District Judge Tod Young told The Record-Courier on Friday. “We will begin the e-filing system with criminal cases, anticipating that there will be bugs to work out and processes to refine. We are starting with criminal cases because they generally have far fewer documents than civil litigation.”

Once criminal cases are live, officials anticipate being able to go live with civil cases around 90 days after the criminal case portal opens.

“We will have trainings for attorneys and the public along with a video for instruction on the use of the portal,” he said. “The public will be able to look at any file that hasn’t been ordered sealed by the court.”

Douglas County’s first Court Administrator Bobbie Williams hoped she could implement the e-filing system before her retirement arrived at the end of June. On Thursday, Douglas County commissioners are scheduled to issue a proclamation thanking Williams’ for her 26 years of service, including a decade as court administrator.

“Williams was instrumental in the modernization of the Douglas County judiciary by implementing new case management systems for both the courts and jury system, both justice courts and the district court and the development of the public kiosk,” according to the county.

Those kiosks, located between the Justice and District Court Clerks’ Offices on the second floor of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, have been in place for around two years waiting for the system to be implemented.

Both a case management system and an electronic filing system were purchased a few years ago, Young said. The effort to convert files from the former system operated by the justice courts was time consuming both for Williams and her assistant Rebecca Edwards, who has been named to succeed Williams.

With that work complete, the final step is determining the rules for access.

“Judge Gregory and I have been working on electronic filing rules for the Ninth for many months,” Young said. “The Nevada Supreme Court just issued new electronic filing rules and we need to be compatible with those.”

Last week, the Nevada Open Government Coalition released a survey that showed rural courts still require access in person.