Beginning August 2000 and concluding in November 2001, Georgia Courts Automation Commission and Georgia State E-CourT-Filingproject conducted an electronic court filing interoperability pilot project.

A lessons learned document as well as the pilot documentation is available on this website. You will need a password to access the documentation.

One of the first questions one must ask when considering electronic filing of court documents is "What format?"

Historically, the legal profession has used Word Perfect as its word processing tool. Microsoft Word, however, is becoming more popular in the legal office. Other formats exist, such as Rich Text Format (RTF) and Adobe's PDF. Using technology such as XML, still other "smart document" formats could exist.

The Georgia Federal-State Court PKI Proposal recommends that various state and federal judicial entities partner to construct a public key infrastructure for the purpose of enabling secure and interoperable electronic court filing in Georgia.

Two early white papers on issues in developing electronic court filing systems discuss a wide variety of topics, including civil procedure, document formats, signatures, and electronic service and notice. These documents are an introduction to electronic court filing and a good place to start to become more familiar with electronic court filing.

Facilitating Electronic Court Filing in Georgia: Analysis of Georgia Code Sections and Rules is a summary of Georgia State University's E-CT-Filing Project's analysis of Georgia's Code of Evidence (selected sections; O.C.G.A. ss 24-1-1 to 24-8-30), Civil Practice Act (O.C.G.A. ss 9-10-1 to 9-10-186 and O.C.G.A. ss 9-11-1 to 9-11-85), Uniform Superior Court Rules, Uniform State Court Rules, Uniform Magistrate Court Rules, and Uniform Transfer Rules.

The purpose of the analysis is to facilitate electronic court filing in Georgia.

As electronic court filing software and services become available in the market, court clerks and administrators will begin to investigate and purchase e-ct-filing systems. Indeed, some Georgia court clerks and administrators are already exploring the e-ct-filing market.

To aid court clerks and administrators in selecting an appropriate system, Georgia State University's Electronic Court Filing Project and the Georgia Courts Automation Commission have created an e-ct-filing shopping list for Georgia court clerks and administrators.