Dallas County courts going digital.

• Position: OPEN RECORDS - Brief article

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In the ,next few years, Dallas County s criminal, family, and civil case files will be available on the Internet to residents. The Dallas County district clerk's office is converting paper court files to electronic format. The paper files are being destroyed after they are converted.

The goal, Dallas County District Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons told The Dallas News, is to finish the process by July. The first criminal court to make the switch to electronic records in August required 17 district clerk employees working a combined 250 hours scanning thousands of documents over a weekend.

Paper will still be produced, but it will then be scanned and shredded. In civil court, attorneys can file documents electronically. According to The Dallas News, state law allows for the destruction of the documents and for Fitzsimmons to designate the electronic files as originals.

Dallas County residents will eventually be able to view public court records online from any computer, with the exception of medical and sealed...