Indigent Defense Services

The NC Public Defense System

eCourts is a project of the NCAOC; the Office of Indigent Defense Services will continue to support the NCAOC in working to be responsive to the problems that have been reported thus far. As with any new technology, it is not unusual for there to be challenges, especially in the beginning stages.

With the aim of aiding Portal users, IDS offers the following helpful tips (outlined based upon topic). These tips have been acquired by staff who have been using the new eCourts system since its launch on Monday, February 13, 2023. This outline is in no way comprehensive/exhaustive, but we hope you find this helpful.

NEW eCourts Update for August 1, 2023

eCourts Update for June 15, 2023
eCourts Update for June 13, 2023
eCourts Update for June 6, 2023 – Modified 6/7/23
eCourts Update for May 26, 2023
eCourts Update for April 26, 2023

A meeting was hosted April 12, 2023, in Wake County by the Director of the NC Administrative Office of the Courts. The purpose of the meeting was to update attorneys and clerks from the pilot counties about eCourts, the status of progress made, and to report on the items the Tyler team is still working to correct. As a courtesy, IDS is providing a copy of the slide deck used to help keep you informed as AOC and Tyler teams work to improve services provided through eCourts.

LINK TO eCOURTS UPDATE FROM APRIL 12, 2023

This page was last updated April 26, 2023.
Scroll down for the latest updates…

eCourts | North Carolina Judicial Branch (nccourts.gov)

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Ensure your contact information on the Bar website is correct. Odyssey will pull that information from the website and input it into Portal under the “Party Information” tab.
NOTE: If you have your personal address or phone number, that will appear in Portal.

eDISCOVERY

To register for eDiscovery, please contact the AOC Help Desk at 919-890-2407.

NOTIFICATION OF APPOINTMENTS

Odyssey is supposed to send email notifications once your name is entered as the attorney of record. However, that feature is currently inoperable. **AOC Teams are aware of and currently working to resolve this issue. In the meantime, in non-PD counties the clerk will email to you the notification of appointment. In PD counties (i.e., Wake County), the PD’s Office will continue to put appointment notifications in your courthouse mailbox.

NEW! NCAOC VIDEOS

The processes in these videos are current and have been approved by AOC/DA/PTB. We would like to thank the 10th Judicial District Bar for creating them.

PORTAL

  • Criminal Record Checks
    • Wake, Lee, Harnett and Johnston counties must use the Portal to search for a defendant’s criminal record.
    • All other counties should continue to use CIPRS.
    • IMPORTANT: When you search by name, all persons with that name should populate. However, you cannot see the DOB to determine whether that person is in fact your client. Therefore, at this time, there is no way to verify any charge/conviction/dismissal if it occurred in a Portal county. **AOC Teams are currently working to resolve this issue.
  • County Codes
    • Insert the applicable county code following the case number when filing a document. For example, the case number would be 23CR123456-910 (-910 being the county code). For your convenience, the county codes for the pilot counites are:
      • Harnett – 420
      • Johnston- 500
      • Lee – 520
      • Wake – 910
  • Viewing Case Documents in Portal:
    • Portal should eventually contain all the documents that would be in a court file, unless the document is marked “confidential.”
      • When this feature of Portal is fixed, you would be able to click on the applicable link/PDF icon in “case events.” Any case prior to the launch [February 10, 2023 and before] the clerk will have to scan and add the document(s) to the case as a docket-able event. If the document(s) do not appear in Portal, you can request access to the physical file.  Any document that was E-filed after the launch date will automatically be loaded into Portal, but will not be viewable until the clerk makes it a docket-able event.
  • Calendar Queries – In Portal, the calendar and case type search filter is now working. (3-3-23)
    • You can search by specific courtroom. You can search by attorney name/bar number.  You can search by the defendant’s name.
      • If you search by name, enter the last name, comma and the first name. If you are unsure about the spelling of a defendant’s first name, you can type the first letter, followed by an asterisk, and you will see every individual with the same last name and first initial.
      You can search by case number.
      • If you are searching by case number, you must include the zeros in the case number, the hyphen, and the county code. This is a total of 6 digits after the CR.
        • Do not include spaces.“S” is no longer needed to designate superior court cases.
    • PLEASE NOTE: This search method will produce results of ALL cases in which your name appears in the case record, INCLUDING those cases where you are no longer the attorney of record. An example is if you withdrew from a case five months ago and another attorney subsequently was appointed. When you run the search, that case WILL APPEAR in the results for both you and the current attorney(s). **AOC Teams are currently working to resolve this issue.

FILE & SERVE

  • All filings will be viewable in Portal once the clerk accepts them, except for filings that were marked “confidential.”
  • Tips for E-Filing:
    • If you are searching by case number:
      • Use all 6 numbers after CR.
      • Do not include “S” for superior court cases.
      • Each search must end in -### (the applicable county code) For example:  17CR000123-910 – for Wake.
      • At this time, you cannot search by case name. **AOC Teams are currently working to resolve this issue.
  • File & Serve only accepts files submitted in PDF format.
  • Viewing Your Filings
    • After you use File & Serve, a task will be created for the clerk to either accept or reject the filing. If accepted, it will follow a particular workflow. After this process, it will be viewable in Portal, unless the information was confidential.
              ***NOTE: You must first redact all PDFs.
  • Certificates of Service:
    • Rule 5(d) of the General Rules of Practice states, “Service of pleadings and other documents must be made as provided by the General Statutes. A Notification of Service generated by the court’s electronic-filing system is an ‘automated certificate of service’ under Rule 5(b1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure.” You should receive an email once it is served on the other party (as long as you efile and serve, not just efile).

March 23, 2023, Updates:

There is a NEW procedure to serve documents when a prosecutor has not been assigned to the case: Instead of just “e-filing” the document, you must select “efile and serve.” To do this, you will need a service contact, which requires an email address.

SPECIFIC TO JOHNSTON COUNTY:  

Updated March 23, 2023

The Johnston County DA’s Office has created a general mailbox to serve the data needed to serve documents when a prosecutor has not been assigned to the case.

  • For the three required fields, it is recommended to use “Johnston” as the first name, “DA” as the last name, and Johnston.DA@nccourts.org for the email.
  • This applies to both District and Superior Court cases in Johnston County only.

SPECIFIC TO WAKE COUNTY:

The Wake County DA’s Office has created a general mailbox to serve the data needed to serve documents when a prosecutor has not been assigned to the case.

  • For the three required fields, it is recommended to use “Wake” as the first name, “DA” as the last name, and Wake.DA@nccourts.org for the email.
  • This applies to both District and Superior Court cases in Wake County only.

Updates on this from Harnett and Lee counties are forthcoming.

March 1 and 2, 2023 Updates:

FOR ALL PILOT COUNTIES:

Please FIRST search for your case in Portal. If you do not see it there, THEN email the clerk, using the appropriate email address below.

SPECIFIC TO JOHNSTON COUNTY:

*For offense dates on and after the eCourts launch date [February 13, 2023], there are no physical files; all case documents are electronic.

In Johnston County, attorneys may request case documents either in person at the clerk’s office, or by sending a request to Johnston.criminal@nccourts.org.

GENERAL:

eCourts access to case documents such as charging instruments, release orders, and judgments are still not currently accessible. **AOC Teams are currently working to resolve this issue.

March 3, 2023 Updates:

CALENDARS & CASE TYPES:

In Portal, the calendar and case type search filter is now working.

April 4, 2023, Updates:

SPECIFIC TO LEE COUNTY:

The Lee County DA’s Office has created a general mailbox to serve the data needed to serve documents when a prosecutor has not been assigned to the case.

  • For the three required fields, it is recommended to use “Lee” as the first name, “DA” as the last name, and Lee.DA@nccourts.org for the email.
  • This applies to both District and Superior Court cases in Lee County.

SPECIFIC TO HARNETT COUNTY:

The Harnett County DA’s Office has created a general mailbox to serve the data needed to serve documents when a prosecutor has not been assigned to the case.

  • For the three required fields, it is recommended to use “Harnett” as the first name, “DA” as the last name, and Harnett.DA@nccourts.org for the email.
  • This applies to both District and Superior Court cases in Harnett County.