The Electronic Court Records Program

 Since the start of 2000, the King County Department of Judicial Administration (DJA), the Superior Court Clerk, has been developing its Electronic Court Records (ECR) program to manage the tremendous number of papers that are processed and filed every day. Over 8,000 documents a day are filed with DJA, in the Courthouse in downtown Seattle, at the Regional Justice Center (RJC) in Kent, and at the Juvenile Court on Seattle’s First Hill. More than 7 million pages a year are added to the Court’s storehouse of case files. By law, clerks retain superior court case files indefinitely.

The ECR program has been moving through three major phases:

 l       Phase 1, “Core ECR.”

DJA makes electronic images by scanning documents filed in cases begun since January 3, 2000. The system for processing these images within DJA is called “Core ECR.” It has several parts. An image capture and management system is at the center, with “workflow” software that is used to route documents as images through the Clerk’s Office for processing. Core ECR interacts with the Superior Court Management Information System (SCOMIS), a mainframe program maintained by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in Olympia. DJA’s clerks process documents by reading their electronic images on screen, from which they capture and enter needed data. With important exceptions, the hard copy documents are not retained. A key benefit from Phase 1 is that having to search for “lost” documents or files has been almost completely eliminated. Two or more people can look at the same document at the same time, from different locations.

 l       Phase 2, “ECR Viewing.” 

      Phase 2 of the ECR Program was called “ECR Connectivity.” It brought direct access to the imaged case files to the Superior Court’s judges and commissioners, courtroom clerks, court staff, and the County’s “Law, Safety & Justice (LSJ)” agencies (Sheriff, Prosecutor, Public Defense, Juvenile, Jail, District Court). Those who work with documents in court files now can view them as images from computers, in courtrooms or their offices. The ECR system is now available only inside the King County Wide Area Network (KC WAN). Images are viewed through web browser software like Internet Explorer or Netscape; a special application on the user’s PC is not required. Public access to case document images is provided in file viewing areas at all three DJA locations: the downtown Seattle Courthouse, the Juvenile Court building on Seattle’s First Hill, and the Regional Justice Center, in Kent. Users no longer have to be worried that another person might have checked out the files they need to read, provided the files have been imaged. Public viewer users can order plain or certified copies; the clerk provides the printouts after collecting required copying and certification fees. Thanks to the success of the ECR Connectivity effort, DJA has already realized substantial savings through reduced time needed for maintenance, retrieval, re-shelving, and searching for hard copy files and documents.

 l       Phase 3 of ECR is “Electronic Filing.”  E-Filing Update - WSBA Article published September 2003

“Electronic Filing,” filing from one’s desktop PC, has been a compelling vision shared by many judicial leaders, clerks, attorneys, and litigants in our state. DJA is engaged now setting up enhancements to ECR that will make it possible for filers to submit documents electronically. This project involves expanding the capabilities of the Core ECR and ECR viewing systems through upgrades and enhancements. A pilot project is planned for 2004 to test this new and exciting filing method. It involves a group of volunteer attorneys from firms of various sizes, single practitioner offices to multi-state partnerships. During the pilot project, these volunteers will log on to a special Web site, enter their assigned user IDs and passwords, and submit their filings electronically. The documents will be filed using a standard format, the “Portable Definition Format” (PDF), into which an electronic document, authored using any one of a number of word-processing programs, can be saved. The PDF format has been successfully used for electronic filing in systems in many other courts, particularly federal courts. Once the pilot project has been completed and evaluated, DJA would open this service to other filers.

Click here to E-File documents with the King County Superior Court Clerk's Office.

Can I look at Superior Court case files from my office or home computer?

Not yet. The ECR system is accessible only inside the secured boundaries of the King County government network. It is expected that ECR will be accessible through the Internet in the future. There are serious concerns, however, about personal privacy and protecting litigants from problems like “identity theft.” Court and Bar Association groups are discussing these issues and reviewing the feasible approaches that might be implemented. King County will observe the same rules regarding access to court records and protection of privacy that all courts will use. Once electronic access to court case files is available outside the County’s network, everyone who uses court case files will share in the considerable benefits and savings that electronic document technology provides.

Aren’t electronic case files vulnerable to hackers and other threats?

Electronically recorded documents are, in many ways, more secure than hard copy documents maintained in paper file folders. The record is retained in a secure electronic storage system to which outside access is not permitted. Users request and receive electronic copies of the documents, but they are not directly connected to the electronic document system, so they cannot alter records or break the system. When electronic documents are recorded in the ECR system, duplicate disks are made; the duplicate disks are taken to a different location, serving as a secure backup in case a problem arises.

The “Core ECR” Document Management System

The “Core ECR” electronic document management system allows the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA, the King County Superior Court Clerk’s Office) to capture, process, and store court records for the cases before the Superior Court electronically. It has operated since January 3, 2000. The staff of DJA uses this system at all three of DJA’s offices: the downtown Seattle Courthouse, the Regional Justice Center (RJC) in Kent, and the Juvenile Clerk’s Office on First Hill in Seattle.

Core ECR was created as the first phase of a multi-stage project to build electronic document systems for all cases before the Superior Court. Since 2000, all papers filed with the clerk have been converted into document images, electronic “pictures” created by scanning each page. These images constitute the official case records and the hard copy papers, with some important exceptions, are not retained long term. ECR has also brought electronic access to case files for all personnel in the Superior Court and other King County agencies. Judges, commissioners, and staff now pull up case records from their personal computers, without having to go to the Clerk’s Office to get them. Electronic access is available to litigants and the public, but only in the reading areas of the three locations of the Clerk’s Office. (External access through the Internet to ECR is expected in the future, once rules and practices for all the courts of Washington to protect privacy and ensure security have been developed and implemented.)

The Core ECR system runs on powerful, high capacity servers and uses large electronic storage devices. Core ECR was built from software that has proved capable of handling the volume and complexity of systems like the DJA document management system. Core ECR has a well-designed interface with SCOMIS, the Superior Court Management Information System, interacting with and coordinating data between it and the state’s mainframe for tracking information about all cases in superior courts throughout Washington.

All cases begun since January 3, 2000, are kept in electronic file folders. The Clerk’s Office designed the Core ECR application to include all aspects of document imaging (scanning, indexing, storage, retrieval) plus workflow software, which helps move the document images through the many operations staff performs on filed documents. Core ECR stores documents electronically as images (in standard “TIFF4” format), so they can be viewed on computers. Sealed documents and cases are protected in Core ECR so only authorized persons who use assigned User IDs and passwords could access them. Non-sealed documents are not restricted.

Core ECR has changed the way the Clerk works with case documents. Filed documents are prepared for scanning by removing the staples, smoothing out wrinkles, darkening light or faint pages, separating documents with specially marked pages, creating batches for scanning, and so forth. These “prepped” documents are organized into batches and scanned to create their electronic images. A clerk checks to ensure image quality and indexes each document into the ECR system. At that time, the images are recorded in the ECR storage media and the document is assigned to its appropriate workflow. At this point the document images become work items for other DJA staff, who open them to complete docketing and other tasks. DJA staff does this work with the images, and the paper documents are not needed. These paper documents, with specific exceptions, are not retained in file folders; the imaged documents in ECR constitute the official case records.

ECR Viewing: Documents On-Screen

Once Core ECR was in place, DJA developed a document retrieval and viewer program for accessing the images. The program, accessed through Web browser software, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape, has made it possible for personnel in the Court and throughout King County government to view case files without leaving their desks. DJA provided user training and support to ensure that all who work with case documents are able to retrieve them for viewing and printing from their own PCs.

Anyone can come to the Clerk’s Office, in the King County Courthouse, in the Regional Justice Center in Kent, or at the Juvenile Court on First Hill, to view imaged case files on computers provided there for public use.

Every document in cases opened in 2000 or later has been converted to images stored in the ECR system. DJA also has imaged every case it has archived, from 1997 on; those case files are indexed by case and their images are presented as a single “document” in the ECR Viewer. All of the imaged documents can be retrieved and viewed with the ECR Viewer from a PC operating inside the King County intranet, its Wide Area Network (WAN). Persons authorized to view sealed, confidential records have obtained individual User IDs and Passwords they must use to gain such access. Persons with access to sealed records, based on statutory or court order authorization, request the User ID and Password from the Clerk.

The ECR Viewer has two general functions: First, it helps to locate the case, document, and page(s) the user needs to see. Second, it helps the user read the pages it has retrieved. Reading documents can be done from the screen or from printouts, as the user prefers.

The “thumbnails” below are links to screen examples from the ECR Viewer. Click on any thumbnail to see the sample displayed in a new window.

Although working with images can take some getting used to, there are many significant savings for every user. Rather than wait for the one-and-only-one copy of the case file to be located, returned, or found, one can view it on demand. It is not necessary to be present in the Clerk’s Office to see a case file or document. More and more file handling time is saved in the Clerk’s Office as more cases are filed as electronic images.

To submit a comment or question about ECR, click here. Your input will be welcomed and appreciated.

Updated 09/10/03