Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2012

Nine courts have been selected as e-filing pilot sites for the eCourtMN initiative. They include district courts in Cass, Clay, Cook, Dakota, Faribault, Kandiyohi, Lake, Morrison, and Washington counties.  Courts in the Second Judicial District (Ramsey County) and the Fourth Judicial District (Hennepin County) have already been operating a pilot project that allows for the voluntary e-filing of civil cases.

The eCourtMN initiative calls for moving Minnesota’s state court system from paper files to an all-electronic information environment that will ensure convenient, timely, and appropriate access to court information.

The plan envisions a multi-year transition that, among other innovations, includes electronic imaging of closed and active case files and electronic filing (e-filing) in new cases.  A proposal in front of the Supreme Court would make e-filing of civil cases mandatory for district courts in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, the state’s highest volume courts, beginning July 1. 

State Court Administrator Sue K. Dosal, who was charged by the Judicial Council with overseeing the eCourtMN initiative, has called it “the most comprehensive work reengineering effort ever undertaken by the Judicial Branch.”