Administrative Office of Courts
Electronic filing presentation scheduled July 25 in Hernando North Mississippi attorneys will get an overview of the planned electronic filing system for court records during an 11:30 a.m. presentation July 25 at the Gale Community Center in Hernando. Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr., Mississippi Electronic Courts (MEC) Counsel Clint Pentecost and MEC Program Director Calvin Ransfer will present the pilot program. Attorneys from the Third Chancery Court District of DeSoto, Tate, Panola, Yalobusha, Grenada and Montgomery counties are invited. Members of the media are welcome to watch the presentation. Attorneys wishing to attend should contact Kim Jones, president-elect of the DeSoto County Bar Association, at 662-890-7575, or by e-mail at kjones@austinlawfirm.ms. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., at the start of the program. The price of the meal is $16, payable upon arrival. The DeSoto County Chancery Court was recently added to the MEC pilot program. Madison, Scott and Warren counties were the original tests sites. The Mississippi Supreme Court in a May 26 order expanded the MEC pilot project to the Chancery Courts of DeSoto, Harrison, Holmes and Yazoo counties. Chief Justice Waller said, “I am excited about including one of the most progressive counties for court administration and one of the busiest courts.” Chancery Courts in Madison, Warren and Scott counties; Circuit Courts of Madison and Warren counties; and the County Court of Madison County utilize electronic filing. Circuit Court civil filings are available online in Madison and Warren counties. Work is underway to adapt the system to Circuit Court criminal records. The electronic filing system allows attorneys to file documents or read court records via the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Members of the public may view electronic documents via the Internet. The public access portal, Public Access to Mississippi Electronic Courts (PAMEC), is similar to the federal court records subscriber-based access portal known as PACER. MEC charges 20 cents per page to view electronic court records in participating jurisdictions. The annual registration fee is $10. Registration and other details about MEC are available at this link: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/mec/mec.html. The MEC e-filing system is modeled on the one used in the federal courts. The Mississippi Supreme Court in June 2007 entered into an agreement with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to study the feasibility of adapting the federal trial court case management and electronic filing system for use in state courts. #### |
