ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 30, 1997 TAG: 9703310079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK THE ROANOKE TIMES
The clerks have concerns about the costs and labor associated with Internet access to court records.
The day is coming when a click of a mouse will replace a trip to the courthouse to search for records.
But that day will not be July 1, when a new law takes effect allowing circuit court clerks in Virginia to post their records on the Internet.
With the exception of Wise County Circuit Clerk Jack Kennedy, most clerks in Southwest Virginia are not jumping into cyberspace - although they agree it's only a matter of time before their records go on line.
The Internet Access Bill, approved this year by the General Assembly, gives clerks the legal authority to put indexes and actual documents on the Net. The new law reverses an opinion by Attorney General Jim Gilmore, who last year said Kennedy did not have such authority.
Eventually, the law would allow a lawyer to conduct a title search, a homeowner to find out if a neighbor has a criminal record, or a community group to monitor court cases - all without having to make a trip to the courthouse.
"It would make the courthouse and public records much more accessible than they are now," said Del. Clarence Phillips, a Wise County Democrat who sponsored the legislation.
But clerks in the Roanoke area interviewed last week said they have concerns about the costs and labor associated with Internet access.
"What we're looking at here is a tremendous expense," Roanoke County Circuit Clerk Steve McGraw said. "I have no qualms whatsoever about doing it from the standpoint of understanding the technology. But the biggest obstacle that any clerk's office is going to have to face is the amount of labor and cost it will take to convert the records."
Others worry that creative hackers might infiltrate records once they leave the security of the courthouse and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"I do not want to jump into this until I can be absolutely certain that people can't change or delete anything," said Bedford County Circuit Clerk Carol Black. "Could they take a $50,000 deed of trust and make it $5,000? Or just wipe it out altogether?
"I have a lot of questions that need to be answered before I can just jump on the Internet."
Despite their concerns, most clerks acknowledged that Internet access is something they all will offer eventually.
"There's no question that as the technology advances, we need to keep up with it," Roanoke Circuit Clerk Arthur B. Crush said. "The only debate I know of is which delivery system should we use."
Kennedy, who is believed to have the only circuit court Web site (www.courtbar.org) in Southwest Virginia, plans to have court dockets and letter opinions from judges on line as soon as the law allows it.
The Wise County Web site currently offers public service information such as how to obtain a marriage license or a concealed-weapon permit, as well as a list of clerk's office employees and bar association members.
As far as putting land records and other high-volume documents on the Internet, "We're talking more about the millennium than we are July 1," Kennedy said. "But we've got to start someplace, and this is the start."
There are currently about a dozen circuit courts in Virginia that have Web sites, according to Ken Mittendorff, director of the Supreme Court's management information systems department. State officials are helping some of those localities explore how the sites can be expanded under the new law, he said.
Private industries also have expressed interest in the electronic courthouse.
Earlier this month, members of the Southwest Virginia Clerk's Association heard a presentation from a Pittsburgh company that is exploring the possibility of converting the clerks' records for Internet use at no cost to them, in exchange for the right to sell the information to the public through a user fee.
Bill Harvey, president of Visus Technologies Inc., said that while he would have to charge more than the 50 cents a page copying fee assessed by most clerk's offices, users would benefit by not having to drive to a courthouse and by not being limited to its operating hours.
Harvey said he did not come to the meeting with a specific proposal, and further negotiations would be needed to determine if the project would be economically feasible.
The only court records currently available on the Internet in Virginia are decisions from the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Those opinions, which have been available via computer since 1993 through a dial-up program run by the Supreme Court, are now available at www.courts.state.va.us.
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