12/28/2022 0 Comments Maryland judiciary case search system“This is an exciting day that we have been working toward for many months,” said W. Morrissey, Chief Judge of the District Court of Maryland. MARYLAND JUDICIARY CASE SEARCH SYSTEM UPDATE“The tremendous work by everyone in the courts and the supporting offices to train, update hardware and facilities, and prepare for the new system has resulted in a smooth, seamless transition,” said John P. I wish to commend the members of the Judiciary in Western Maryland, including staff and leadership, for their commitment and hard work throughout the implementation process.” “Implementation of MDEC statewide will allow the Judiciary to improve services for all who utilize the courts. “The Maryland Judiciary is making great strides in bringing case management and electronic filing to all Maryland state courts in order to improve services for the people of Maryland,” said Mary Ellen Barbera, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland. The Judiciary is on pace to achieve the goal to bring MDEC to every court by 2021. The Western Maryland launch means that more than 70 percent of jurisdictions in the state are now operating under the electronic case management system. The Judiciary is expanding the highly automated system to provide attorneys with the opportunity to transition from a paper-based process to a technology-based electronic filing system. Maryland attorneys have been filing electronically, or “e-filing,” since October 2014, when MDEC launched as a pilot in Anne Arundel County. MDEC modernizes court processes and makes case filing more convenient for litigants. The launch of MDEC in a county makes electronic filing mandatory for attorneys representing clients in civil and criminal cases in District Court, Circuit Court, and any appellate filings that commence in that county. Administrative Office of the Courts et al., 24C18005684.( CUMBERLAND, FREDERICK, OAKLAND, AND HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND – October 16, 2017) – The Maryland Electronic Courts (MDEC) case management system is now operational in Allegany, Frederick, Garrett, and Washington counties. When Fletcher-Hill asked why the codes for judges’ names was not similarly laid out, McDonald replied that was because it is an administrative record under the rules. McDonald acknowledged that the judiciary does provide an explanation of certain abbreviations and codes used in Case Search on its website. “This is a matter of administrative convenience, one way or the other,” he said. “Case Search is not the actual, complete case record,” she said.įletcher-Hill, who said he would issue a ruling within two weeks, told Rosenberg he appreciated the policy argument in favor of providing the codes but pointed out that the case was not about “fundamental access to court proceedings” because there are other means to learn about judges’ actions. McDonald, an assistant attorney general, said that the Administrative Office of the Courts does not have discretion to turn over the document and that Abell has other means to find out which judge has ruled in a case, such as by accessing the docket from a computer terminal at the courthouse. The Maryland Rules say the custodian of a record “shall deny inspection” if it is prepared by or for a judge or other judicial personnel, is purely administrative in nature and is not filed with the clerk or required to be. McDonald told Fletcher-Hill that Abell was making a public policy argument about why the foundation should have access to the key, but that the court is not required to make judges’ names a part of Case Search, nor is it required to turn over a document that Court of Appeals rules have designated as an administrative record. “We’re not talking about nuclear secrets.”īut an attorney for the Maryland Judiciary argued that the rules governing access to court records required the request be denied because the document is an administrative record. Fletcher-Hill to grant a motion for summary judgment for Abell. Rosenberg, a partner at Rosenberg Martin Greenberg LLP in Baltimore, said that preventing the public from knowing which judge has taken action in a particular case was “Orwellian” and he asked Baltimore City Circuit Judge Lawrence P. “What they have done is effectively deny public access through (Case Search).” “This is really an extraordinary position that the Administrative Office of the Courts has taken,” attorney Benjamin Rosenberg said at a motions hearing Tuesday. The request was denied because the Administrative Office of the Courts classified the document as an administrative record. The Abell Foundation filed an MPIA request for the key to assist the group in tracking individual judges’ bail determinations in Baltimore. Maryland’s system of identifying District Court judges in the public Case Search database by a three-character code, with no “key” available to users, is being challenged under the state’s Public Information Act.
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