The new site also allows people to sign up for text notifications when an update in a municipal court case takes place. Those alerts could expand to other courts including domestic relations and felony cases in the future.
“That’s the site that’s going to be used by attorneys and people of the county to search records, so it’s important,” Foley said. “Now everyone wants a mobile-friendly site. So it’s easier to navigate through your phone or iPad. That was important to us.”
The Clerk of Court’s office was already converting its case management system, said Fred Tatum, director of the information systems for the office. And because that impacted the Public Records Online website, it seemed like a good time to upgrade that site as well, he said.
He said the site will also help the office track searches so it can understand what type of information the public is trying to gather. The updated version of the site will stop efforts to mine large quantities of data from the system. Tatum said the records contained online are public, but large searches can hurt the performance of the system.
“It’s not necessarily denying them access to the server, it’s more about maybe just saying, ‘You can only get this much at a time’ and maybe pacing it so they’re not hitting it as frequently so it’s not putting a greater load on the server,” Tatum said.
Along with upgrading the public records website, the clerk’s office’s also offers two other websites. The main clerk’s site is www.mcclerkofcourts.org. Residents can get information on things like auto titles and passports and other items at that website.
It also runs courthousetoyou.com, which is the website for the Help Center, a walk-in center that assists people so they understand their rights and connects them to programs as they navigate their way through the court system.
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