More on Ind. online court records
Brian Corbin of the Evansville Courier & Press reports, “Online court records hit snag: Indiana Supreme Court cancels contract to link all documents.”
Need to look up court records from your divorce? How about checking into the criminal background of a possible tenant before you lease to him? Think you might log onto your computer and search for court records online? Think again. To view Indiana court records, people still must visit the courthouse. If your case was filed in another county, then you must drive to the courthouse in that county’s seat. Though appellate and federal cases are posted online, Indiana trial court records remain stuck in the pre-Internet era.
The Indiana Supreme Court has tried to link the different record-keeping systems of nearly 400 courts in all 92 counties, so judges could access court records from other counties and the public could see them online. But the ambitious plan hit a snag recently: Computer software tested for the statewide project could not perform a critical function: tracking money from fines, child support payments and bail bonds. The Supreme Court canceled its contract with the software firm, which agreed to refund the state $7 million.
Meanwhile, an unrelated effort to post Vanderburgh County’s court records online also is on hold. Officials have a plan, a software vendor and a cost estimate: up to $280,000. But they don’t have the funding. The online court records project was not budgeted by the Vanderburgh County Council, and it remains on the back burner until financing materializes.
