Digital Courts Project
This is the signature project of the Dallas County District Clerk's office. In my 2006 campaign, I promised to bring the office into the 21st Century and use advanced technology to electronically manage court records. Under my leadership, the District Clerk's office has imaged more than 14 million documents in only three years time. We now have the first all-digital Felony courts in Texas. By the ned of the Summer, all Civil District Courts and all Family District Courts will be operating on digital platforms
The efficiencies created by this initiative have enabled my office to make $1.3 million in cuts to help close the Dallas County FY 2011 budget shortfall with no reduction in service. The elimination of paper records by the project will save Dallas County taxpayers $880,000 in paper court file storage costs annually (4,000 square feet at $220 per square foot.)
eCourt
Public Access to Court Records
Under Gary's leadership, Dallas County courts for the first time have made actual records available to the public and legal community online. Only Harris and Tarrant counties now offer this service. Available at http://www.dallascounty.org/public_access.html, this initiative represents a major step forward toward making the courts accessbile to public and legal community.
The current public access system will be replaced with a new eCommerce platform by late fall 2010. eCommerce will give attorneys expanded access to restricted court records and will provide enhanced search capabilities.