January 20, 2017      5:49 PM

Battle brewing over statewide access to court documents

Chair of committee respects clerks but says "the public has the right to their court records, and there are clerks that charge an arm and a leg to get a record."

A fight is getting underway now over statewide access to court documents.

Under the charge of the Texas Supreme Court, county and district courts will soon have to allow attorneys and members of the public to access documents and filings online through a site called re:SearchTX, a statewide system aimed at uniformity to the process. But while the shift has been met with concern from many county and district clerks, on a state level the transition seems largely supported.

The conflict was highlighted at Judicial Committee on Information Technology meeting Friday where members of the committee were at odds over how best to implement the access system.

By Eleanor Dearman

Copyright January 20, 2017, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved