The Florida Bar News - February 1, 2010

Courts, clerks reach e-portal agreement

By Gary Blankenship
Senior Editor

There’s nothing in writing yet, but representatives from Florida’s court clerks and the court system have announced they’ve reached an agreement over the operation of the Internet portal that will be an integral part of the new electronic filing system for state courts.

Sarasota Clerk of the Court Karen Rushing and 11th Circuit Judge Judith Kreeger told the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee on January 14 that the clerks and courts hoped to present a final agreement during February legislative committee meetings.

Rushing was representing the Florida Association of Court Clerks and Comptrollers while Kreeger is the chair of the Florida Courts Technology Commission, which is overseeing not only the implementation of electronic filing, but the broader issue of electronic access to court records.

“We pulled the rabbit out of the hat,” Kreeger told the committee, standing side-by-side at the podium with Rushing.

“I really feel we are going to move forward and will deliver a positive result,” Rushing added.

The e-portal controversy arose out of the Legislature’s mandate last year that the clerks and the courts come up with an electronic filing system in the current budget year to help reduce costs associated with the paper filing system.

The FCTC and the courts were working on setting up a portal when the FACC announced it had a system ready to go as part of the electronic system it was creating to allow the electronic filing of documentary records.

That set off a dispute, with the FACC saying it had a portal ready and the courts questioning whether it could meet the courts' needs, which were still being defined. Court officials also questioned whether the courts could legally contract without bidding for the proposed portal, since it was being created under a for-profit subsidiary of the FACC.

After the meeting, Rushing said there was never any concern over the functionality of the clerk’s e-portal, but rather how it would operate, how it would be upgraded, and other such questions.

But in discussions, “there were no issues of concern where we couldn’t meet the judiciary’s expectations,” she said.

As outlined at earlier meetings, Rushing said the FACC will create an interlocal agreement with the courts, under F.S. Ch. 163, which will oversee the operation of the portal.

Kreeger said the clerks, through that agreement, will contract their oversight of the portal to a seven-member body that will be composed of five county clerks of court, one clerk from a district court of appeal, and the Supreme Court clerk. In turn, that panel will contract with the courts for the operation of the portal.

The clerks and courts are working on a memo of understanding outlining the system, she added.

“That memorandum of understanding will define criteria, spell out dispute resolution, require audits, and address revenues,” Kreeger said. “Everything will be transparent.”

She said the portal meets the goal of being a unified system that will allow filing a suit anywhere in the state and will operate the same from county to county and circuit to circuit.

The portal resolution will be a key step to completing the electronic filing system mandated by the Legislature. But Kreeger said it will still be a while before the system is fully operating. The FCTC has completed “data elements,” or defining what information must be provided in electronic filings for probate cases and is now working on juvenile cases. It will then move to criminal filings and finally civil, which, she said, will be the hardest.

However, she said that counties and circuits that have laid the groundwork for e-filing will likely be offering the service in at least some divisions within several months.

The courts and clerks were working under an economic threat to get the portal issue worked out. Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, had promised to move their budget requests for the 2010-11 fiscal year to the bottom of the committee’s agenda if the issue wasn’t resolved soon. At the January 14 meeting, he expressed satisfaction that the two sides had worked out their differences.