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February 26, 2014

Maine SJC asks legislators to fund e-filing system

The chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court called on lawmakers Tuesday to support a bill that would allow the issuance of up to $15 million in bonds to buy an electronic case filing system for public online access to information that now must be asked for in person at a courthouse.

Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley told the joint assembly of the House and Senate that the bill, LD 1789, will give the public the electronic access to its government that it deserves, according to the Bangor Daily News.

She added, “I can go online from anywhere and find the pending bills, the sponsors and committee assignments, the status of those bills, both in the committee and on the floor, the language of proposed amendments, committee hearing dates, and all written testimony.”

Saufley also said the current paper filing system is antiquated, costly and makes it difficult for the public to access the court files, according to The Associated Press.

She added that the system has to be designed so it protects private information such as social security numbers or victims’ addresses.

The BDN wrote that New Hampshire’s court system is in the process of converting to an e-filing system at a cost of $10.4 million to $12.4 million. That’s according to a report submitted in 2012 to the Legislature’s appropriations and judiciary committees.

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