CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Wake County district attorney and others are so upset and calling on state leaders to do an independent review of a new digitalized computer system for courts, which is set to launch in Mecklenburg County in less than two weeks. It could be a $100 million mistake with North Carolina’s taxpayers footing the bill.
New technology designed to put the court systems online has faced hundreds of glitches in Wake County where it first launched, and it’s about to launch here in Mecklenburg County. All of the top law enforcement officials are on record saying they’re very concerned, even about your safety.
"Certainly there’s a great deal of anxiety," Mecklenburg County’s District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden is also worried about the new system and how it could impact public safety.
"We are all concerned," McFadden said. "We are very much concerned, who's going to suffer is the public."
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings agreed, saying he's "very concerned" about the system.
Mecklenburg County’s district attorney, sheriff, police chief and area defense attorneys are all worried about the launch of eCourts in Charlotte on Oct. 9.
“I’d rather have the rapture come,” defense attorney George Laughrun said.
After a six-month delay, eCourts, the new technology meant to digitize and connect all of North Carolina's courts, is finally coming to Charlotte after a trouble-plagued launch in Wake and surrounding counties.
“All of us are happy to have an automated system," Merriweather said. "There are a lot of unresolved questions that I hope get resolved before this is implemented in Mecklenburg County."
Hundreds of documented glitches have caused court stoppages, long lines, people being re-arrested on charges that were dropped, and even class-action lawsuits after people were left sitting in jail after those charges were dropped.
The Administrative Office of the Courts, or AOC, is heading up the launch. They have continued to downplay the problems — even when a court has had to stop for hours; however, they have acknowledged more than 573 application defects since eCourts went live in North Carolina.
“The eCourts project is still in its early stages as we transition from the four-county pilot phase to Mecklenburg County, and we are encouraged by the progress towards implementation in Track 2 and all of North Carolina," Graham Wilson, the communications director for the North Carolina Judicial Branch, said in a statement. "Based on the progress that has been made during the pilot process, there are no plans for an external review at this time.”
Within Mecklenburg County, officials are still concerned.
“If you speak with the AOC they’ll tell you every one of those circumstances has been resolved," Merriweather said. "If you talk to my colleagues in those districts, they will tell you they still are seeing signs of non-resolution of those things."
Merriweather is even more worried because Mecklenburg County’s caseload is so much bigger than Wake County's and because they continue to find glitches with the system, months after it was launched.
“That's what gives all of a bit of caution," Merriweather said. "You would want to not build the airplane while in the air, you want to have it built before you take off and there are a lot of things about this system we’ve had to learn through experience."
His office also just realized the new system may cut off access to criminal records.
"Just 20 minutes before our interview, I learned criminal records we used to rely on being delivered to us that’s going to have to be entirely reworked because of the system working differently," Merriweather explained. "It could slow down our ability to argue in front of judges to be able to give them the info to make sure we are not putting a dangerous suspect back on the street."
The sheriff has similar safety concerns.
"Imagine if we have the wrong information and we get into a conflict, it’s more than paperwork or the system goes down it's also the safety of my deputies," he said.
At CMPD, Jennings recently learned his team is also going to have to get creative and do more work to make sure information about arrests and other case information makes it into the new system.
“We thrive on making sure we keep dangerous criminals off the streets and that we’re arresting the right people and the people we're encountering we have as much information on them as we can so when you’re missing data or its incorrect, that’s important to the safety of our public and the safety of our officers,” Jennings said.
He says as of now, the new state system does not work with individual county systems.
“That's why you’re seeing someone being arrested twice on the same warrant," Jennings said.
Merriweather has spent the last year trying to make a dent in the backlog of cases, many of them murder cases, that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated, and now he fears courts will be slower and could even shut down. And he’s frustrated that his office had very little input in helping craft the system they’ll be relying on.
“Four years ago, the vendor came to our office for a day and we were told they’d be back, that never happened," Jennings said.
The vendor, Tyler Technologies, has faced lawsuits across the country in other jurisdictions where these systems have launched.
WCNC Charlotte tried to get comment from Tyler Technologies and a spokeswoman referred us to the AOC. The AOC gave WCNC Charlotte a lengthy statement, we’re posting it here in its entirety.
From Graham H. Wilson, Communications Director North Carolina Judicial Branch:
"As of today, the eCourts pilot phase has saved citizens countless trips to the courthouse and more than 1.5 million pieces of paper by processing an average of 10,000 remote records searches per day, over 350,000 total electronic filings, and over a million criminal processes statewide.
North Carolina’s court system is replacing paper records with a multi-platform, cloud-based, integrated case management system – statewide – unlike other states that have a non-unified patchwork of applications that vary across jurisdictions. The comprehensive scope of the eCourts project in North Carolina connects law enforcement, courts, and the public, to move our state from a laggard to a leader with long-term benefits for a generation.
For the first time, self-represented parties who previously had to navigate complex legal matters alone can complete and file documents electronically through user-assisted interviews in eCourts’ Guide & File system. More than 39,000 interviews have been completed to create a court filing in Guide & File.
Replacing paper processes with case management software increases transparency and accountability in our legal system to propel North Carolina courts into the information age. We are grateful for the dedication of local court officials, state government partners, legislators, attorneys, and other stakeholders, to deliver 21st-century digital solutions that transform our state’s paper-based court system for the benefit of all North Carolinians."
As the attached joint letter from Mecklenburg County’s Chief District Court Judge and Senior Resident Superior Court Judge stated announcing the go-live date to local stakeholders:
“Much success has been achieved over the last six months. This pilot period has enabled the vendor to resolve software issues and make enhancements to digital court processes, resulting in a much-improved system for statewide use...The launch of Odyssey ICMS will break down many barriers to public access to the courts. It will place court files at the fingertips of lawyers and litigants. It will empower Judicial Branch employees to work more efficiently, and it will create greater transparency and increase access to justice.”
In addition to courthouse walkthroughs, trainings, and learning resources provided to the public on nccourts.org/ecourts, the NCAOC is providing live eFiling training and Portal records search trainings for attorneys, judicial partners, and members of the public in Mecklenburg County in preparation for October 9, 2023. Over 1,200 individuals have registered for or completed Mecklenburg County trainings since the announcement of its go-live date, and over 1,500 individuals registered for in-live and in-person training for the pilot counties.
The district attorney in Wake County is calling for an independent review of the new system. Merriweather says he supports further review of the system before it launches.
“My district remains days away from rollout of Odyssey. But I, along with my fellow D.A.s and other court stakeholders — not to mention the general public — are the customers to whom services are to be rendered. Why in the world wouldn’t I want to see that kind of review?” Merriweather said.
Contact Michelle Boudin at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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