RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina legislator is asking state leaders to look further into issues with the state's eCourts system that has caused court delays, civil liberties violations, and a slew of other problems.
Rep. Robert Reives (D-Chatham & Randolph) sent a letter to Rep. Tim Moore, the Speaker of the NC House about the issue. Reives says the eCourts system rollout has had a negative consequence on North Carolina and must be looked into further.
In February, North Carolina began testing its eCourts system in four counties - Harnett, Johnston, Lee, and Wake - in hopes of moving it statewide in the future.
However, several problems have plagued the system in the ensuing months. Paperwork has been delayed hours, attorneys and judges have experienced obstacles in obtaining case information, and rural county attorneys have had to rely on their own IT capabilities and infrastructure to navigate the system, according to Reives.
Additionally, attorneys believe these problems have violated some people's civil liberties with defendants spending longer times in jail than they previously would have due to delayed court processing.
These problems have caused a major headache for anyone involved in the court system.
"While some glitches may be expected when implementing new software, this is a system on which rests the fundamental questions of liberty and justice in our State," wrote Reives in the letter.
Reives went on to question the choice of choosing Tyler Tech as the company to create the eCourts system. Reives says Tyler Tech has had issues with court-related IT systems in other states before the problems in North Carolina.
Despite these previous issues, North Carolina designated $100 million to Tyler Tech to modernize the state's court system from paper-based to digital.
The system was supposed to be rolled out in 2021 but numerous delays held it out until this year. Mecklenburg County was set to receive the system in May but that has now been delayed because of ongoing issues in the trial counties.