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Vol. 13, No. 7 July 2017
Fee Increase Reminder
Fees
will increase on August 9, 2017 as a result of legislative changes. Current and
upcoming fee amounts are now posted on the Clerk’s website at http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/fees.asp. Documents submitted for filing that are received by the
Clerk's office (file counter, by mail, or through a filing depository box) on
or before August 8 will be subject to the current fees. Documents received for
filing on and after August 9 will be subject to the new fees.
Clerk’s
Back-Scanning Project Earns National Achievement Award
The National Association of Counties (NACo) recently recognized the
Clerk’s office with a National Achievement Award for the success of the Clerk’s
back-scanning project. For new cases filed in 2002 and after, the Clerk’s office
began scanning and maintaining case documents in digital format, substantially launching
the office’s Electronic Court Record (ECR). To complete a comprehensive digital
court record, the office needed to back-scan the years of paper case records
that were maintained before 2002. The office’s formal name for this was the
Pre-2002 Adult Case Record Imaging Project and the plan was implemented in
2014, with the goal of back-scanning more than 15.6 million paper pages into
the ECR from older adult case type records.
Digitizing paper records provides greater access to all court users, offers
greater physical security and reduces the risk of accidental damage,
misplacement or loss of records. Additionally, the project supported the Office’s
ongoing strategic initiative to further implement and utilize the ECR by
creating a true, permanent electronic archive of court records and providing
records to case parties remotely via electronic access. Parties and
practitioners recognize that system as the Clerk’s ECR Online (https://ecr.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/login.aspx).
The project required the hard work of 15 full-time employees, developing
a comprehensive cross-training plan, establishing numerous quality assurance
audits, preparing final disposition or destruction of the paper documents, and
acquiring the equipment needed to complete such a large and long-term project. The
project’s initial scope and time frame was 24 months, but was expanded in 2015
to include adult Mental Health and Probate case records, which extended the time
frame another year.
The back-scanning project was completed on schedule in February 2017. As
a result, more than 15.6 million more pages of documents are available
electronically, bringing the office’s ECR to more than 216 million pages. The
pre-2002 digitized records are now accessible from public access terminals at
Clerk’s office locations around the Valley. As envisioned, completing the
project created one of the nation’s largest electronic court records in a
general jurisdiction court. The office will proudly receive its award later
this month at the National Association’s award ceremony and is the 39th
award this office has received for its innovative programs over the past 29 years.
Office Closed Tuesday
Clerk’s
Office locations will be closed Tuesday, July 4 for Independence Day. Celebrate
our nation’s independence safely, including getting shade or shelter and
hydration! If you need to file, use electronic filing if available or use one
of the Clerk’s external filing depository boxes. The 24-hour filing depository boxes are available for
Criminal, Family Court, Tax, and Probate filings and for some Civil filings.
The boxes are not for any Juvenile filings or for Civil filings that must be
eFiled. Find the box locations online at http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/alternative_filing.asp.
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