Civil Case Initiation for eFiling

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County is one of the largest jurisdictions in the country serving a diverse population of nearly 4.5 million people. The Clerk of the Superior Court in Maricopa County (Clerk’s Office) receives and processes over 2,200 new civil cases each month. These cases require customers to physically present documents at the courthouse for filing. This entire process can take up to 36 hours with multiple clerks processing the case at various stages. Working with the Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the Clerk’s Office developed an eFiling system for new civil cases that integrates with the Clerk’s Offices’ proprietary eFile and case management applications, as well as the AOC’s statewide eFiling portal for filers. The new online service saves time for attorneys, self-represented litigants, and the Clerk’s Office and removes the need to come to a courthouse in person to file new civil cases; an important factor in the COVID era. Customer usage was high immediately upon launch and now over 80% of all new civil cases are eFiled as opposed to being submitted on paper in person. Each case can be processed by a single clerk and can be completed in a matter of minutes.