What is the main benefit to the counties to proceed with the proposal of an Electronic Filing Manager?
The TexasOnline e-Filing project is a collaborative effort between
the State of Texas, Counties, State Bar, JCIT, and Filers. The system will be owned by the State of Texas, so there is a decreased risk of business failure. The following additional benefits are available to counties who use the statewide Electronic Filing Manager solution:
Counties' needs and concerns will be addressed through participation in the development of a common set of rules and policies which will govern the e-Filing process.
Counties can establish service using the state master contract.
Counties can realize additional revenue through the use of fees provided for in Section 2054.259 of the Government Code, which
authorizes to be established by the TexasOnline Authority.
Counties can establish e-Filing services without incurring costs. (DMS or CMS integration could incur costs, but these
may be offset through additional revenue stream).
Ultimately, the Counties will be able to allow transference of cases in a change of venue or appellate process.
Filers will be provided with a choice of open market service providers who meet a standard set of policies and rules.
Counties and filers will be provided more flexibility by enabling the use of multiple EFSPs.
Counties will be provided with a single, consistent portal to state and local governments.
Counties will be provided a secure path for court related data transference and payment transactions.
Counties will be provided a proven process.
Counties will participate in a true public and private sector alliance.
Why should the counties use the EFM model when they could make their own
deal with DIR, go with one or more EFSPs and retain the entire filing fee?
Why should the counties choose the statewide EFM model over a single vendor EFSP model?
EFSP
models are typically exclusive and all filers may be locked into a single EFSP
dictated by a court.The EFM model
provides the best opportunity to leverage a statewide infrastructure and
standards at a local level.Under
the statewide EFM model, an increased opportunity for EFSP vendor participation
will result in more competitive rates and better service as well as greater
flexibility for the county.Similarly,
the use of a single EFM will standardize interfaces across courts and allow
opportunities for improved and more consistent access to data.The use of TexasOnline to provide the EFM also enables the counties to
participate in a revenue stream from Electronic Filing.
Why should the counties choose the EFM model if the counties then
do not retain the entire court-filing fee?
Under the statewide model the county retains
the entire court filing fee.Additional
revenue can be established through the provisions of Section 2054.259 of the
Government Code, whichauthorizes fees in conjunction with TexasOnline.The EFM will charge a service fee in addition to the court filing fee.
What will constitute the proof of receipt of filing?
The filer will receive notification via email that the document was filed. They will also have access to a “stamped” electronic copy of the filing through the EFSP. There will be a chain of notification available to the filer and the clerk documenting status at the filer’s location, the EFSP, EFM, and the clerk.
How does proof of receipt reach the filer?
Just as a filer will be able to submit a document to the court, once the clerk has taken an action on that document, the response will travel along a reverse path back from the clerk to the EFM to the EFSP to the filer. If the clerk chooses to accept the filing it will be electronically stamped. If the clerk declines the document the reason for the decline will be returned to the filer. This response is carried through the JCIT approved court filing standard confirmation envelope that is sent to the EFSP by
the EFM. The EFSP then sends the message to the filer via an e-mail or EFSP inbox letter.
At what point does a file receive a time stamp, i.e., when the first page is sent, when the last page is received?
All pages will be time stamped as part of the same file. From the standpoint of the application, TexasOnline will be able to provide a timestamp of the document for each transfer event. Events will include (1) time submitted by filer to EFSP, (2) time received by EFM, and (3) time accepted by clerk.
What happens if the system “goes down” during a transmission? Is it considered the filer’s problem or the clerks'?
Local or State rules will dictate how an electronic filing is handled. This will be part of the state standards that are being developed as part of this project. Three potential points of failure include:
EFSP transmission to EFM – Until the EFM receipt is received,
the Filer will bear the responsibility to complete filing.
EFM transmission to CMS – The EFM is responsible to ensure the
transfer of data is successful and the clerk is responsible to ensure that the
load into the CMS is successful.
EFM response to EFSP –The EFM bears the responsibility to ensure
that responses are transmitted back to the correct EFSP.
What hours/days are the filers allowed to file, i.e., until close of
business of the court, midnight of that day, etc.? What about Sundays and holidays (not currently allowed to file on those
days)?
Local
or State rules will dictate filing deadlines.Filers will be able to submit documents to the EFM 24x7;
however, the court will set the date that they are considered filed.For example, courts may choose to end the day at 5:00 p.m.In such a case, even through a document is submitted by a filer at
6:15 p.m. on Monday, it may only be considered filed on Tuesday. Since
filers will be using these systems in multiple counties it is important that
local rules be posted.
Will there be a charge for filers to view files after they have been filed?
Viewing filings will be a service offered by EFSPs, as well as the clerks, and not the EFM.EFSPs may choose to
charge filers for the right to view files after they have been filed.EFSPs typically charge based on the number of pages, or the amount of storage each filer requires for their document.The TexasOnline EFSP will have to charge competitive rates to offer
services.These documents will not be the official copies, as official documents are still provided by the
clerks.
What payment method alternatives does a county have?
The
TexasOnline framework provides a proven payment processing system that is
available to all counties in Texas. It can be used for electronic checking
or credit cards.Automated
Clearing Accounts (ACH) is the equivalent of an electronic check.
Credit
card payment will also be offered for payments, where filers have agreed to
pay the credit card discount fees, which will be posted (typically 2.3% of
the amount).
In
future phases, the system will also support the counties’ ability to use
escrow accounts for the payment of court based filing fees.
Which entity resolves a credit card dispute and what is the process?
In
the case of a credit card dispute, the credit card company will send a
letter to the county, informing them of the dispute. Upon contact from the
county, TexasOnline will assist the county in researching the type of charge
and amount, ensuring its validity and providing proof of the transaction to
the credit card company to resolve the dispute.
What assurance does the county have that the data have been expunged and
do not reside on a server somewhere?
Through the Service Level Agreement established between TexasOnline and the county, the terms regarding data purging will be determined.
The TexasOnline system is available for technical audits by the Texas Department of Information Resources at any time.
How long will data be kept before being expunged?
The
specific terms regarding data retention, i.e., how long the data will be
kept before being deleted, what type of certification will be issued,
liability, etc. will be outlined individually within a Service Level
Agreement established between TexasOnline and the county.In general, a filing will be available within the EFM for ten days
following an acceptance or rejection decision rendered by the Court.At that point, the data will be deleted and the date/time will be
recorded in a permanent log within the EFM.The TexasOnline system is available for technical audits by the Texas
Department of Information Resources at any time.
What certification will be issued to the county that the data have been destroyed?Who will be liable if it
is not?
Through the Service Level Agreement established between TexasOnline and the county, the terms regarding data purging will be determined.
The TexasOnline system is available for technical audits by the Texas Department of Information Resources at any time.
Will counties have input into the specifications of required interfaces to their Case Management Systems?
Yes,
the counties will have input through the JCIT standards adoption process.TexasOnline will provide a standard interface based on XML for
counties to use to interface with their case management systems.The interface will adhere to the court filing standards approved by
the JCIT.Additionally,
TexasOnline will provide the counties with a data dictionary for the
standard interface, and provide knowledge transfer and assistance to the
county's IT professionals and vendors responsible for implementing the
standard interface.
Will the
interfaces be standardized or will they be county specific?
TexasOnline
will provide a standard interface for counties to use to interface with
their case management systems.The
interface will adhere to the court filing standards approved by the JCIT.Additionally, TexasOnline will provide the counties with a complete
data dictionary for the standard interface, and provide knowledge transfer
and assistance to the county's IT professionals and vendors responsible for
implementing the standard interface.
Will counties have input into the specifications of required interfaces to their
Document Management Systems?
Yes, the counties will have input through the JCIT standards adoption process.
How will the courts "house" the data to ensure the success with the
attorneys if they do not have a Document Management System?
Courts
that do not have an electronic document management system will have the
option of (1) printing the filings out after acceptance and filing them in
the paper filing system or (2) forming an agreement with a vendor that
provides outsourced document management services. If the latter is used the
county can maintain an electronic copy of the file in a network server but
would have to use the outsourced service to produce certified copies or (3)
saving the documents locally to a directory system.
What is the definition of disaster recovery in regard to e-Filing?
EFSPs
will have separate disaster recovery definitions, so this question will be
addressed from the standpoint of the EFM.The EFM is a transfer and payment engine. It will only maintain files
that are in the process of being filed and pending clerk acknowledgement.
Disaster recovery ensures the viability of this process in the case of a
disaster, while maintaining data and file integrity.
The
EFM is being built in a “high availability” architecture using redundant
servers and databases. System failure in one server will not affect other
servers.
What is the timeline for disaster recovery?
The
EFM is housed in a fire-proof, tornado proof facility in San Angelo, Texas.The TexasOnline disaster recovery plan deals with all levels of availability.
What entity establishes this timeline?
The
TexasOnline Disaster Recovery plan is approved by the Department of
Information Resources.
What is the definition of archiving in regard to e-Filing?
Archiving
typically denotes some type of offline or near-online retention of files.In the case of a standard TexasOnline Electronic Filing arrangement,
no archiving would take place.Documents
are retained until court receipt, and then for a short period, typically ten
days, thereafter.No long term,
or archival, requirements are necessary.The court will use its own archiving strategy, as it does now with
paper documents.
A
county could choose to independently contract with TexasOnline for archival
or long-term retention functions.However, that contract would be outside of the
Electronic Filing agreement and would be executed on a county-specific
basis.
What is the timeline of archiving; at what point does it begin?
TexasOnline
will not provide archiving services, except those provided for by separate
contracting services.The court
should develop its own archiving strategy, as it does now with paper
documents.
What type of printers will be required to meet the needs of basic
e-Filing functionality?
Print specifications would be based on daily volumes. TexasOnline
can provide a minimum specification for different levels of anticipated volume.
The use of high resolution, laser printers should be anticipated.