WisPolitics Budget Blog

The JFC approved the governor's recommendation to allow the Director of State Courts to establish and charge fees for use of the circuit court automated information system. The new fee would be charged to users of the electronic case filing system the courts are developing.

Sen. Taylor, an attorney herself, said most lawyers she knows file their documents electronically, and the system being implemented by the courts will increase accessibility. Taylor said she supported the fee, as long as it isn't attached to access to CCAP.

Rep. Suder said the state shouldn't charge people for filing forms electronically "even if they are attorneys."

Labels: CCAP

Click here to read Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson's prepared remarks to the Joint Finance Committee. Abrahamson didn't read the remarks verbatim, but used the prepared text as a guide for her testimony.

Labels: Abrahamson, CCAP, Court System, Supreme Court

Rep. Scott Suder, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the "CCAP tax" asked Chief Justice Abrahamson if she would object to taking the current confusing language regarding fees for the online court access system.

"You as Chief Justice have no intention (to charge for public access)," Suder said. "But there may be others who don't share your vast knowledge, experience and intention" that may choose to implement a fee.

Abrahamson said she wouldn't support removing the language, but would prefer to narrow it so the fees could only be applied to a convenience fee for attorneys e-filing to CCAP.

Labels: Abrahamson, CCAP, Suder

Chief Justice Abrahamson said there has been some confusion about the budget proposal concerning the state's computerized court access site, CCAP.

She said the budget does not include a request to charge a fee to the WCCA, the portion of the CCAP site that allows public access to court records. The budget does include statutory language for convenience fees for e-filing of records by law firms to CCAP, she said.

"There is no fee for public access to WCCA and we have no intention to implement such a fee," said Abrahamson. "From our perspective, WCCA makes the court system transparent to the public, which is good."

She said WCCA receives 2-3 million Web hits per day.

She admitted that the language in the budget bill has raised some concerns about the continued free access to WCCA, and she will work with the executive branch and JFC to clarify the language.

Labels: Abrahamson, CCAP, Court System, Supreme Court