E-filing: The bureaucracy strikes back

It seems that whenever someone in government comes up with an innovative plan that, well, makes sense and benefits consumers, there is someone from the Department of Redtape and Inflexibility to squash the idea like a bug. Harris County District Clerk Loren Jackson's proposal to create a free e-filing portal in Harris County is the bug and the state Office of Court Administration is the shoe, according to an article in this week's edition of Texas Lawyer.

Carl Reynolds, the OCA administrative director has called Mr. Jackson's plan "hurtful" and said it could scuttle the state's plan to create a single e-filing site (that charges a "convenience fee" for each filing). As things stand currently, an electronic filing service provider takes your e-filed document and files it with Texas Online who then files it with the district clerk's office -- and the user is charged a fee by each and every entity that "touches" the document.

Texas Online is operated by NIC, Inc. under a contract with the State of Texas. Mr. Reynolds is worried that Mr. Jackson's proposed free e-filing portal would "cripple the funding model for Texas Online." That's right -- the State of Texas is not concerned about the ease of filing documents online, they are only concerned with putting money in the pocket of the company hired to run the system.

And for those of y'all who espouse free and unfettered markets -- Texas Online is a monopoly created by the government. With no competitors in the marketplace and guaranteed payments from the state, what incentive does NIC, Inc. have to make Texas Online any more efficient that it is (or isn't, depending on who you talk to)? And don't forget that the suppliers you have of any given service, the lower the cost due to the pressures of competition (that's a good thing, right?).

And, by the way, Harris County accounts for an average of 34,700 monthly e-filings -- far in excess of the total filings in Travis, Dallas, Bexar and Hidalgo Counties combined (approximately 10,700).

Free e-filing is on the way in Harris County

Loren Jackson, the Harris County District Clerk, is on the verge of introducing a free open e-filing portal on the district clerk's website that will allow suits to be filed electronically - saving paper, gas and time along the way.

I am happy to announce that pending Texas Supreme Court approval, the Harris County District Clerk's Office will build a free open e-filing portal enabling lawsuits to be filed electronically directly to our office. The move is an effort to further increase judicial efficiency and to save Harris County taxpayers a significant amount in costs each year, as well as to increase transparency in the judicial system by promoting greater public access to court documents and records.

Among several benefits to be delivered by the implementation of the new technology, e-filing will contribute to the reduction of paper printing, cost of processing and storage, and will help attorneys reduce the number of unnecessary trips they make to the courthouse.

The free e-filing portal will also speed up the court document and work flow process, allowing judges to view filed documents within minutes. -- Loren Jackson, HCDC

There has been a sea change in the district clerk's office since Mr. Jackson came into office in 2008 -- both in content and speed. Information on civil and criminal cases can now be pulled up in an instant and certified copies of pleadings, court filings and orders can be order and printed out in just minutes without having to drive over to one of the courthouses. And the cost of this service? Just $1 per page.

What's Mr. Jackson's opponent's campaign message for the fall election? "The office is run too efficiently?" "The level of customer service is too high?" or "Bring back the carbon paper!"

Click here to sign the petition urging the Texas Supreme Court to allow this free e-filing portal in Harris County.

New appointment system for capital cases in Harris County

A new day is dawning in Harris County when it comes to appointments in capital cases. On Tuesday, a panel of judges introduced a sweeping reform of the manner in which attorneys are appointed to represent indigent defendants charged with capital murder.

Through the creation of a database called the Fair Defense Act Management System, judges will be able to view an attorney's misdemeanor and felony case load before assigning a capital case. Harris County officials hope to avoid future situations in which an attorney accepts more appointed cases than he can handle competently (see "It all adds up to incompetence").

“Do I think sometimes there are folks who are innocent of crimes who are convicted wrongly? Absolutely. This is a great stopgap.” -- Harris County District Clerk Loren Jackson

The creation of this new database is another example of what new Harris County District Clerk Loren Jackson has brought to the table since taking over the office in January. Mr. Jackson has spent his time in office working on ways to use technology to make the flow of information in the District Clerk's office more efficient and more manageable.