Administrative Office of Courts
Lauderdale County Bar to hear e-filing presentation Dec. 4 Mississippi Electronic Courts Director Lisa Counts and MEC Counsel Clint Pentecost will discuss Lauderdale County’s implementation of an electronic filing system for court records during a Lauderdale County Bar Association meeting at noon Dec. 4 at Weidmann’s in Meridian. E-filing is expected to begin in Lauderdale County in early 2014, although a specific timetable has not yet been set, Counts said. Work on the e-filing system is expected to start first in Lauderdale County Chancery Court, but local attorneys have expressed great interest in having e-filing available soon in Circuit Court as well. E-filing allows judges and attorneys to file and view documents 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and makes public access to court records more convenient. The Mississippi Electronic Courts (MEC) program, under the supervision of the Mississippi Supreme Court, is adapted from the electronic filing system used in federal district courts. E-filing is currently utilized in 21 trial courts in 12 counties. E-filing trial court jurisdictions currently include the Chancery Courts in Desoto, Grenada, Hinds, Holmes, Montgomery, Rankin, Webster and Yazoo counties; Chancery and Circuit Courts in Clay County; and all trial courts – Chancery, Circuit and County Courts – in Madison, Harrison and Warren counties. The Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals began accepting voluntary electronic filing of briefs and motions July 1, 2013. E-filing at the Supreme Court will become mandatory for motions and briefs on Jan. 1, 2014. More than 3,700 attorneys – more than half of the attorneys in the state – are registered to use the MEC system. Also, more than 1,400 non-attorneys are currently registered to use the system to access court records. Free training for attorneys and their staff is provided by MEC at the Supreme Court Courthouse, 450 High Street in Jackson, and in the venues in which e-filing is implemented. The training schedule and online registration are available at this link: Click Here. #### |
