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County attorney outlines e-filing mandate, caseload and potential scanner needs
Summary
County Attorney Laura told commissioners e-filing will be mandatory July 1, 2014, and the office may need additional Acrobat licenses and scanning equipment; she reported roughly 20 pending lawsuits (mostly against the county), caseload counts for protective orders and mental-commitment matters, and said she will provide outside-counsel spending history on request.
Nueces County Attorney Laura briefed the Commissioners Court on June 17 about departmental operations, the transition to mandatory e-filing and current litigation.
Laura said state-level mandatory e-filing takes effect July 1 and the office has ordered Acrobat software and run trial e-filing tests for protective orders, CPS and civil matters. She cautioned about operational glitches during ramp-up and said the office may require additional scanning equipment or support depending on countywide coordination of scanner vendors. "E-filing mandatory by July 1st," Laura told the court, adding that staff have begun trial runs and that the office will evaluate whether additional scanning purchases are necessary.
She summarized 2013 activity: protective-order-related filings seen (352) with about 86 granted for the in-house portion handled by county attorneys, 196 mental-commitment matters and 145 open-records requests (down from 188 in 2012). Laura reported roughly 20 pending lawsuits involving the county or county employees (most handled in-house), with several matters stayed pending appeals. She said the office closed several cases without liability in 2013 that saved the county nearly $500,000.
Commissioners asked for a five-year lookback on outside-counsel expenses and Laura agreed to provide that information. She also noted an upcoming vacancy in chief litigation that will be posted on the agenda.
No formal action was taken; the information was provided for budget planning and operational readiness for e-filing implementation.
