The first step in making court records available online in the 11th West Judicial District will take place at a kickoff meeting 10 a.m. Friday in the Jefferson County Courthouse rotunda.
The district includes Jefferson and Lincoln counties.
Contexte is a case-management program being installed by the Administrative Office of the Courts throughout the state, according to a press release from the AOC. Within three months of implementation, most case dockets will be available to view using the public portal CourtConnect.
At the kickoff meeting, AOC experts will explain the implementation process and the timetable for the project.
The courts are expected to begin using the system on Nov. 17.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The AOC maintains a statewide contract license for Contexte provided by Xerox. Contexte is one of many applications offered by the Arkansas Court Automation Programs of the AOC. In addition to case management, the license includes an in-court processing module, an online payment module and a public access component. Currently, 32 circuit courts within Arkansas fully utilize Contexte.
The ultimate goal of ACAP is to improve public safety and to improve and promote public confidence in the judiciary by making accurate, complete and timely court information available to the courts, justice agencies and the public by providing a statewide court case management system to all Arkansas courts.
Ultimately, attorneys and self-represented litigants will be able to file court documents electronically.
Currently, the Pulaski County Circuit Clerk is the only court to have fully implemented e-filing, however efforts are underway to implement e-filing in courts that use Contexte.
More than 2,000 attorneys have registered 2,000 attorneys have registered to use electronic filing.
According to the news release, the program would not have succeeded without the support of the Arkansas Supreme Court, and Chief Justice Jim Hannah has been a strong supporter of ACAP.
The software licensing, project support and ongoing application support are provided by the AOC.