In January 2019, the Supreme Judicial Court sought comments on a set of rules entitled Digital Court Records Access Act. Comments were submitted. The legislative proposal was not submitted to the Maine State Legislature. Comments submitted to the Court appear below.
In May 2019, a bill submitted by Maine Judicial Branch (L.D. 1759 An Act Regarding the Electronic Data and Court Records Filed in the Electronic Case Management System of the Supreme Judicial Court) was considered by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on the Judiciary. After public hearing and a work session, the Committee voted to carry-over the bill to the Second session of the 129th Legislature. Information from the Legislative History of L.D. 1759 appears below.
As those lawyers and other professionals working closely with some of Maine’s most vulnerable citizens the Legal Service Providers came together to ask questions, suggest alternative approaches, and volunteer their time and talents to assist the Maine Judicial Branch in the digital transformation.
Request to the Supreme Judicial Court January 2019
Inquiries and commentary from the Maine Legal Service Providers appears below.
In February 2019, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court invited comments on drafts of a Digital Court Records Access Rules and related amendments to the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure and the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, including the Family Division rules. The proposed new rules and amendments, as well as links to the materials from the Transparency and Privacy Task Force, draft legislation, and comments to the first draft of legislation were available on the Maine Judicial Branch’s website, but the link (www.courts.maine.gov/quick/dcra) is no longer working.
The information is available on the Judicial Branch’s website at
CHIEF JUSTICE GIVES 2019 STATE OF JUDICIARY ADDRESSTO LEGISLATURE (February 26, 2019)
A major topic of this year’s address was the Judiciary’s move from paper to electronic court record management. Chief Justice Saufley provided an update on the effort to digitize Maine court records. In June, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that digital records would be available to the public for a fee. The Chief Justice indicated that there would soon be proposed legislation and rules about which records will be accessible to the public through the e-system. She described this project as “one of the most complex projects [she] has has ever been involved with in Government.”
See a discussion of her address from the Portland Press Herald article Maine’s chief justice asks for more support, but not for the judicial branch dated 02/27/2019 (updated 11/9/19):
In early January 2019, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court posted a draft of a digital court records access act and an overview of the legislative proposal.
HISTORICAL: MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT TASK FORCE REGARDING ELECTRONIC COURT RECORDS (2005)
To prepare for the transition to electronic court records, the Maine Supreme Judicial convened an external stakeholder groups, which hosted multiple public meetings to solicit comments from the public at large. In the fall of 2005, the Task Force For Electronic Court Record Access issued a report summarizing its efforts and the information it received. A copy of the full report issued on September 26, 2005, can be found, here:
