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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3/20/15
Contact:
Iris Siple, Chief Administrator 954-831-7173
Ernie Nardo, Chief Director Technology 954-831-7079
Broward
Clerk to Provide Online Access to Electronic Documents
Howard
C. Forman, Clerk is taking the next steps, as defined by the State, to
provide access to paperless electronic court cases. Online access to
electronic public court records will be made available in May 2015, under a
90-day trial period as required by the State. Following the pilot
period, case details and documents will be made available for viewing by
attorneys and the general public in the summer of 2015in the production
environment on Clerk's website at www.browardclerk.org.
There
will be no fee or cost for viewing case information or documents online or
through public terminals in the courthouses. Once the system is fully
implemented in August 2015, downloading and printing of online documents
will also be free of charge.
The
Broward Clerk, the second largest Clerk's office in Florida, was an early
adopter of electronic record filing. In 2008, the Clerk partnered with a
private vendor to accept voluntary electronic filing of court documents in
the Probate Division.
As
Florida progressed toward standardized electronic filing in 2013 and 2014
through the statewide E-Filing Portal, Broward implemented day-forward
paperless court records for Probate, Guardianship, Mental Health, Circuit
Civil, Family, County Civil, Felony, Traffic and Misdemeanor cases.
Prior to 2013 the clerk accepted electronic documents on a voluntary
basis in Probate and Circuit Civil.
All
non-confidential Circuit and County electronic cases are currently
available for viewing in all four courthouse locations on the public access
kiosks and through Wi-Fi in the courtrooms.
Online
viewing of electronic documents for Circuit Civil, County Civil,
Felony, Traffic and Misdemeanor cases will also be made available online
and on most mobile phones and tablets.
This is
a much anticipated enhancement to public access to court records and
electronic document systems. Years of planning was done by the State
to define security access levels to ensure privacy for confidential
information and cases. This planning had to be balanced with the public's
right to view electronic case documents. In 2014, the Florida Supreme
Court issued an administrative order AOSC 14-19 that defines the criteria
the Clerks must use.
Records
that are not filed through the statewide E-Filing Portal are scanned.
All e-filed documents and scanned images are automatically
processed and reviewed through a redaction system to remove sensitive
information prior to being incorporated into the Clerk's Tyler Odyssey Case
Maintenance System and then being available for viewing by the public..
A new
premium based case tracking service, which will allow registered users to
receive emails and appearance reminders electronically on Circuit and
County Civil and Criminal case types, as well as perform advanced
on-demand bulk data searches and report downloads, will be introduced in
the winter of 2015.
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