Electronic court filing system could cost Lake Co. $2.3 million

The development of an electronic system that will allow attorneys - and eventually everyone - to file court documents via computer will cost Lake County $2.3 million.

Circuit Court Clerk Sally Coffelt defended the price tag, saying the project is a long-term effort that will take years to implement.

"We're trying to be very forward-thinking," Coffelt said. "I'll be out of office long before this is completed."

The project also is costly because of the massive amounts of documents that eventually will be involved, said Coffelt, whose current term of office ends in 2012.

"We have a lot of information," Coffelt said.

The Lake County Board on Tuesday agreed to hire a Colorado firm called URL Integration to develop and implement the system, which will let attorneys file paperwork in civil cases electronically with the court clerk's office.

The same company developed a computer system that allows local law-enforcement agencies to share documents electronically.

Lawyers will be able to pay related filing fees electronically as well.

Attorneys will have to register to use the service.

The system could take 18 months to develop and be phased into use, Coffelt said. It also needs to be approved by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, she said.

Attorneys will get to use the system before the general public because "you've got to have a guinea pig," Coffelt said.

Highland Park Democrat Anne Flanigan Bassi was the only county commissioner who voted against hiring URL Integration. She said she supported the project but opposed hiring the firm without considering other companies for the assignment.

The county board also agreed to spend $250,000 on a two-year service agreement from URL Integration to provide maintenance and support for the county's existing judicial computer systems and the proposed electronic filing system.

Money for both projects will come from the county clerk's document storage fund, an account built up by the fees people pay when they file court paperwork.

Last month, county officials considered doubling the document-storage fee to $10, but that plan has been put on hold, Coffelt said.