The Brief - June 2015

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Vol. 11, No. 5                                                                                      June 2015

Civil exhibits and appeals move down the street

Trial exhibits for all adult case types are now available from one location. Non-criminal case exhibits and staff moved from the Customer Service Center to the fourth floor of the South Court Tower, located at 175 W. Madison Street in downtown Phoenix. The Clerk’s Appeals staff also moved to the South Court Tower. Exhibits in Juvenile cases remain at the location where the case is assigned: either at the Durango Street facility in Phoenix or at the Southeast Juvenile facility in Mesa.

For the most efficient way to locate exhibits, schedule an appointment to access them, or to ask questions about appeals, call the Clerk’s main number at 602-372-5375 (602-37CLERK) and select “exhibits” or “appeals” from the options. For a list of Clerk locations and services, visit http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/clerk_loc.asp.

What’s with the ECR, Mac?

Our friends who use Apple products and web browsers that aren’t Microsoft Explorer sometimes ask if the Clerk’s office is planning to upgrade the Electronic Court Record Online (ECR Online) to work better with these platforms. As the legal community is fond of saying, it depends.

On 1/1/2007, the Clerk’s images were designated as the official court record of the Superior Court in Maricopa County. Later that year, when more paper documents were scanned and could be available electronically, the Clerk’s office began testing the ECR Online, which became widely available in February of 2008. In those days, Explorer was the most widely used web browser and most people used PCs over Macs.

Now, more than seven years later, Mac and mobile use has steadily increased, as have the number and type of browsers. Unfortunately, that same time period saw an economic recession and budget cuts. The Arizona Judicial Branch has been pushing for a statewide portal to file and view electronic records for all courts. The promise of a single portal, combined with reduced staff and funds in this office, has limited the Clerk’s internal enhancements to the ECR Online. The Clerk’s office is hopeful that statewide improvements and initiatives are on the horizon. In-house changes could take place if the Clerk’s office receives funding or if implementation of a statewide portal falls victim to higher statewide priorities.

The ECR Online can work with other systems and browsers, but the Clerk’s office only has the resources to support and troubleshoot access through the Explorer browser. The ECR Online was developed in-house by the Clerk’s office as a free service for parties, their attorneys, and others who are allowed to remotely access public court records as regulated by court rules. There are more than 10,000 attorneys and more than 24,000 litigants registered in the ECR Online.

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