Fairfax Circuit Court launches free eCaseSearch, announces e‑filing and plans for expungement clinics

Christopher Falcon, Fairfax County’s elected clerk of the circuit court, told the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 1 that his office has launched several initiatives to expand access to court records and services, including instant public access to case information and the start of criminal e‑filing.

"Today, we launched e file in our criminal division," Falcon said, announcing that Fairfax will no longer create paper criminal case files and that courtrooms will be able to access digital records. Falcon said the change, which took effect the same day as his presentation, will reduce the need to pull physical files for hearings and trials.

Falcon also described eCaseSearch, a free public case‑information tool the clerk’s office launched July 1 that connects to the court’s case management system and provides 24/7 access to court calendar details, judicial assignments and filings. He reported more than 52,000 searches and over 23,000 users in the first two months, and noted that the system offers language options for the county’s six most frequently spoken non‑English languages.

The clerk outlined outreach steps to reduce travel burdens: a monthly satellite pop‑up office in Reston (second Tuesday, 9 a.m.–noon) that provides copies of records, free notary service and marriage‑license applications, and plans to expand satellite services along the Route 1 corridor next year. He also proposed weekend expungement clinics to help residents remove eligible charges that were dismissed or resulted in no conviction.

Falcon said the office is piloting FTR speech‑to‑text technology in courtrooms to create text records that, with agreement from parties and a judge, can serve as an accessible record. He stressed the limits under current Virginia rule — the AI transcription is not yet an official statewide record without agreement — but noted it has helped deaf and hard‑of‑hearing participants and filled gaps where court reporters are not provided in civil proceedings.

Other priorities Falcon described include a property‑fraud notification work group with the Department of Tax Administration and county police to notify residents of suspicious activity related to deeds and land records, modernizing financial accounting systems and planning a long‑term digitization project for decades of physical files.

Supervisors praised the work and offered support for outreach, satellite expansion (South County/Highland Center), and volunteer help for expungement clinics. Falcon said staffing needs exist for automated sealing of eligible criminal charges when the law takes effect and that he is working with the state and county to secure resources.