Ingham
County is working on an
on-line document system that would put all paper documents and records on-line.
Ingham County officials say the measure would
save the county money and give residents better access to files.
According to excerpts from the article:
"It will be a little easier with weather, parking
and traffic," said Jennifer Arnold of East Lansing, who was waiting Friday in the
clerk's office at the 30th Circuit Court to get copies of her birth certificate
and marriage license. "Isn't everything going online?"
Under the concept, most circuit court documents - such as
lawsuits and court motions - would be scanned into a system at the courthouse
and be viewable online. Currently, residents or attorneys who wish to check
legal documents must travel to the court clerk's office in Lansing or Mason and
have a clerk retrieve a court file.
The system would save time and also generate revenue,
officials say; they cannot yet estimate the savings.
A fee, as yet undetermined, likely would be charged to
view or download some documents.
"I would hope we could make it happen this
year," said Tom Shewchuk, who is in charge of the county's computer
systems.
The county has allocated $47,500 in its 2008 budget for
the circuit court's scanning project, according to the county's budget office.
The circuit court handles all felony criminal cases, as well as civil cases in
which damages exceed $25,000.
When it is implemented, only documents from that day
forward are expected to be available. Older case files will continue to be
accessible in paper form.
Read the entire article here.
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