In Greensboro, N.C., a federal lawsuit involving North Carolina’s electronic court records and case management system, known as “eCourts,” is moving forward against the system’s developer and a county sheriff. This development comes after a ruling by U.S. District Judge William Osteen. The case, accusing Tyler Technologies and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden of contributing to unlawful arrests or extended jail detainments, was allowed to proceed to trial. However, the judge decided to dismiss Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe from these proceedings.
The litigation stems from issues following the rollout of eCourts’ case management software, which began in Wake and three other pilot counties in February 2023 before being adopted by Mecklenburg County later that year. Initially impacting roughly a dozen individuals, the system now operates in 62 counties across North Carolina, with plans to expand to 38 more by this fall. The lawsuit claims that both software glitches and human mistakes have caused individuals to be arrested multiple times for the same warrants and detained in jail longer than necessary, even after meeting release conditions. Reports indicate that several dozen people were unjustly detained during the early days of eCourts’ implementation in Mecklenburg County.
Judge Osteen determined that, before full discovery, there is a plausible argument that Tyler Technologies failed in its duty to provide error-free software, which consequently resulted in unlawful detentions and arrests. Additionally, allegations suggest that constitutional rights were violated due to the Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Office not adequately training its deputies to use the eCourts software properly.
Sheriff Rowe was dismissed from the lawsuit due to “statutory immunity” related to carrying out warrants, as there was insufficient evidence presented to prove the arrests in question amounted to a constitutional violation within the judicial system, the judge ruled. Previously, plaintiffs in the case had voluntarily dropped civil claims against officials of the state Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees the eCourts system, as well as other state court clerks and a sheriff.
No trial date has been set as yet. Moreover, those involved in the lawsuit are seeking to broaden it to include more individuals who claim they have been wrongfully detained or arrested due to problems associated with the eCourts system.