News Item
Appellate Court Case Documents Now Viewable on Courthouse Terminals

Posted: Tuesday, September 1, 2015

/mncourtsgov/media/CIOMediaLibrary/Stock%20Photos/GavelCoverPhoto1.jpg?ext=.jpg

Members of the public are now able to view documents filed by parties in appellate cases on public access terminals in all Minnesota state courthouses. Documents filed on or after December 1, 2013, in appeals before both the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court are available.
 
“Today’s announcement is the culmination of over two years of efforts to design and implement the technology and document security necessary to make this service available. The appellate courts recognize that statewide access to electronic appellate court documents will provide a significant benefit to both the legal community and self-represented litigants, specifically the savings to parties who will no longer have to travel to the Minnesota Judicial Center in St. Paul to view and copy appellate court documents. In addition, the availability of electronic appellate court documents, at county courthouses statewide, will advance public access to appellate case records,” said AnnMarie S. O’Neill, Clerk of the Appellate Courts.
 
Since March 3, 2003, the general public has had online access to appellate case records through the public view of the Minnesota Appellate Courts Case Management System (P-MACS). P-MACS provides the following information about cases: case title, case number, parties, attorneys, a list of docket entries, and links to orders and opinions issued by the courts.
 
The Clerk of the Appellate Courts’ Office is imaging all documents filed by parties (not just those issued by the appellate courts) in all active cases. In addition, attorneys and court reporters have been eFiling documents, on a voluntary basis, in appellate cases since March 1, 2015. The document images generated by scanning and eFiling are stored in the Minnesota Appellate Courts Case Management System, which is now accessible through the courthouse terminals as “MACS Courthouse View.” Confidential and sealed case documents are not available through this new service. The effort is part of the Judicial Branch’s eCourtMN Initiative.
 
Viewing access to appellate court documents is available at terminals placed in all 87 Minnesota county courthouses, as well as at the State Law Library in St. Paul, MN. The cost to obtain a printed copy of an electronic appellate court document from the public counters at each courthouse and at the Law Library is $10 per document.