The Virgin Islands District Court clerk's office is now online, with filing and document access available at the click of a mouse.

For just over a year, staffers in the District Court clerk's office have been working to upgrade the court's case management system and convert the paper-based file management system to a computer-based one. The ultimate goal was to add the Virgin Islands District Court to the federal court's Case Management/Electronic Case Files network - commonly abbreviated as CM/ECF - before 2008.

Using the CM/ECF system, attorneys can file cases, motions and information through the Internet, without having to physically go to the courthouse. Those documents, as well as a listing of what has been filed in each case - called a docket - gets filed in the U.S. Party/Case Index. Anyone who has registered with the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system - commonly referred to as PACER - can access this information electronically from any computer with access to the Internet.

While the Virgin Islands federal bankruptcy court has utilized the CM/ECF since 2005, the court's criminal and civil divisions stayed paper-based. Late last year, Chief District Judge Curtis Gomez set an ambitious goal for the courts. By the end of 2007, the existing docket files were to be converted and entered into the U.S. Party/Case Index, and all new files would be made electronically through the CM/ECF system.

This month, Gomez's directive became a reality. Civil cases entered the system in June. On Dec. 3, attorneys could start electronically filing for criminal cases and docket information became available through PACER.

The District Court's website - www.vid.uscourts.gov - contains links to both the PACER and CM/ECF systems.

No new employees were hired for the project.

- Contact Megan Poinski at 774-8772 ext. 304 or e-mail mpoinski@dailynews.vi.