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JACKSON/WINTON – Welcome to eCourts.

For over 200 years, North Carolina’s Judicial Branch has been paper-driven, requiring the public to travel to the courthouse within their county of residence to file or search legal paperwork during business hours.

Now, with eCourts, decades-old mainframe applications and paper files are transformed using modern technology that connects North Carolina counties into one integrated system accessible to the public online.

The state’s 7^th Judicial District (Bertie, Halifax, Hertford and Northampton counties) officially launched eCourts on Monday, April 28, joining 62 other counties that made the transformation earlier.

Prior to Monday’s rollout locally, Northampton County conducted a “soft opening” for the new system on Sunday afternoon. There, in the Superior Courtroom, Michael Hinton, a local attorney, electronically filed a motion asking Judge Cy Grant for a continuance in a Superior Court case. Hinton’s motion was initially sent to the Northampton County Clerk of Court where the electronic document was downloaded into their case management system and then forwarded to Judge Grant for his review. Grant, after finding Hinton’s request to be justified, electronically signed the document and attached an order approving the continuance, which he uploaded it into the eCourts system.

Grant, the district’s Senior Resident Superior Court Judge, explained the benefits he sees in the new system.

“Everyone in the state will have 24/7/365 access to files in any Clerk of Court office,” Judge Grant said. “They can view those files at anytime from the comfort of their home.”

He noted the new system will streamline the judicial process.

“There will be a provision within the online site whereby a person who is not an attorney will be able, in certain cases, to create a document,” Judge Grant explained. “The site will walk them through the process and how to file the document. They will also be able to track the progress of that document as it makes its way through the court system.”

Other benefits include a searchable database of court dates and paying fines/fees online.

“It also makes our court system more assessable to those with disabilities,” Judge Grant stated. “We will also be able to use this technology to hold hearings remotely where lawyers, law enforcement officers, witnesses, and even the inmates can conduct legal business without coming into the courtroom.

“This new system will make the court system much more efficient,” Judge Grant added. “It will be virtually paperless. There will be no more forms or documents that we physically have to deal with. Everything will be done online.”

Grant thanked the North Carolina Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) staff that have been working side-by-side with local judicial officials since November of last year preparing for the go live day on April 28.

“This is a complex system,” Judge Grant noted. “There was a lot to learn and we’re still learning all the system can do. I thank all of you – the Clerks of Court and their staff, the District Attorney and her staff, all the local magistrates, and others – for working so hard to get this system up and running within our district.”

As a Superior Court Judge, Grant often travels to other judicial districts to conduct court proceedings.

“Some of those counties have already made the transition to the eCourts system,” he said. “Everyone I spoke to there said it was a monster to begin with, but they all seem to love it now and would not want to go back to the old system. That’s how we are going to be here in a few months.”

Grant added that because Judicial District 7 was among the later group of counties to go live with eCourts, all of the kinks in the system have already been identified and fixed.

“That should make it easier on us as we make this transition,” Judge Grant said.

For Hinton, he sees eCourts as a time-saving tool.

“I can file anything within this four county court district from my office and simultaneously send it to the District Attorney’s office,” he said. “And I can get any court filing while at my office instead of asking the Clerk of Court to fax it over or me having to drive to the Clerk’s office to obtain a court filing. It saves time and resources.”

Laquitta Green Cooper, Northampton County’s Clerk of Court, asked the public for their patience as she and her team continue to learn all aspects of the new system.

“All court filings are now electronic with the exception of wills, which still need to be paper files and placed in the estate file,” she said. “Attorneys are required to file everything, other than wills, electronically. The public does not have to file electronically. They can bring their documents to us and we will scan it into the eCourt system.”

Cooper said she and her staff have been in training since November of 2024, attending regional workshops. Following those workshops, AOC staff came to the Clerks office in Jackson for additional training.

“We held a mock court here to see how things worked within that type of setting,” she added. “Overall I think this new system is going to be great. I think it will slow down some traffic coming into the Clerk’s office.”

On Monday at the Hertford County Courthouse, North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby paid a visit to thank those on the front line who are making the change happen.

“Change is very difficult,” Justice Newby said. “I read a newspaper article from 1967 where we went from a Justice of Peace and a Recorders Court system to this new invention called District Court. It was a major change. Many wondered would it survive. Well it has served us well for nearly 60 years.

“Now we have a new opportunity, part of the history of our court system to help us fulfill our constitutional mandate of administering justice without favor, without denial and without delay,” he continued. “This new system is part of the without denial part because it will open up our court records system to all the affected parties, no matter where they might be. It will help our judges, especially our Superior Court judges, to be able to look at cases in other counties when they rotate there to conduct court. It will help our District Court judges to study case files without having to drive to a courthouse.

“This is truly transformational for the public and for our court system. I am grateful for the work you do here in Hertford County. Your leadership is vital. You have those who say yes we can and we’ll figure out how rather than those who say no we can’t do that,” Justice Newby concluded.

The AOC notes that more than 1.5 million digital searches are conducted monthly through the eCourts Portal, saving citizens countless trips and calls to the courthouse for simple case information and documents previously unavailable online.

The transition to advanced technology infrastructure for eCourts also strengthens the Judicial Branch’s cybersecurity, disaster recovery, and data storage capabilities.

“North Carolina communities deserve convenient digital services for swift resolution of their legal needs,” said AOC Director Ryan S. Boyce. “Our state’s shared commitment to empowering the public with online access to justice through digital court operations is transforming our jurisdictions into national leaders for the delivery of modern legal services.”

In addition to electronic filing and records searches, the eCourts suite of applications also includes the already statewide eWarrants and Enforcement Mobile platforms, which integrate law enforcement processes with the court system.