DuPage gets more time to switch to state-mandated e-filing system

DuPage County has been given an additional year to transition its circuit court clerk's office to a new electronic filing system required by the state.

Circuit Court Clerk Chris Kachiroubas said he sought the delay because the state-mandated technology lags behind the e-filing system DuPage already has.

DuPage had until July 1 to start using an e-filing system from Tyler Technologies, which has a contract with the state. Every county in Illinois eventually will use the system for the filing of civil court cases.

But in an order filed Tuesday, the Illinois Supreme Court gave DuPage an extension until July 1, 2019. The court denied the county's request for a 2021 deadline.

The court's order was filed just hours after Kachiroubas warned county board members that completing the transition by this July would be costly.

"DuPage's system is so far ahead that we may have to go backward to go forward," he said on Tuesday morning.

Electronic filing for civil cases has been available in DuPage since 2006. The county worked with a company called i2File to develop its system. Now roughly 98 percent of all civil filings in DuPage are done electronically.

Kachiroubas said the county's existing system has more features and functions than the new system. As a result, the county might need to hire programmers to help with the transition.

"At some point in the future, we may to come back to you and ask for additional funding," Kachiroubas told members of the county board's judicial and public safety committee.

DuPage, however, has various budgetary constraints, including the loss of millions of dollars in revenue from the state.

Kachiroubas said he's hoping to avoid requesting more money for his office, so he petitioned the court to extend the deadline.

"I've requested three years to 2021, which would allow Tyler to catch up to me," Kachiroubas said.

While the court denied Kachiroubas' request, it granted the one-year extension "in recognition of the level of integration and e-filing features currently implemented in DuPage County," according to the order.

In the meantime, Kachiroubas said his office is working with Tyler to resolve the differences between DuPage's e-filing system and the new one.