Many Missouri lawyers and residents use Case.net to stay in the know regarding changes and decisions in the status of a court case. Thanks to a recent update by the courts, keeping tabs on those updates can now take place via text message.
In late 2016, the courts introduced a feature on Case.net called “Track My Case,” which allows users to receive notifications about cases via email. After seeing a positive response to this feature, the courts have expanded it to include a text messaging option, where users can be notified of updates via text messages on mobile devices. A full release from the Supreme Court of Missouri explaining this expansion follows.
Individuals using “Track This Case,” a feature of Case.net, Missouri’s online access to information in the statewide case management system, now can choose to receive notifications for cases of interest via text message in addition to e-mail. Missouri is one of the first states in the country to offer this feature statewide.
The Missouri judiciary’s Track This Case service became a permanent Case.net feature late last year, providing anyone with a valid e-mail address with the ability to sign up to receive e-mail notifications when docket entries are made to designated cases and reminders of upcoming payments due or court appearances or hearings scheduled. Today, users also can choose to receive an additional notification via text message.
“The expansion of Track This Case to include text message notifications affords users another choice of how to consume information about cases they select to follow,” Patrick Brooks, director of the information technology services division of the state courts administrator’s office, said. Brooks noted Track This Case traffic has seen a “significant increase” during the past four months.
“At the end of last year, 47,000 registered users had submitted approximately 62,000 case tracking requests,” he said. “Today, more than 65,000 registered users are receiving e-mail notifications derived from 80,000 case tracking requests – a 38-percent increase in registered users and a 29-percent increase in cases being tracked.”
Gary Lynch, a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, and chair of the Missouri Court Automation Committee – a statutory committee that oversees the state’s court technology systems – said, “Adding text messages in conjunction with e-mails not only will assist the public directly with their court business, but it also will boost indirectly the productivity and efficiency of judges, attorneys and court clerks alike.”
“Timely information is literally being placed at peoples’ fingertips,” Lynch continued. “Coupling e-mail notifications with the ability to also receive a text message when a case is updated or in advance of scheduled hearings and payment due dates will make it virtually effortless to stay on top of the latest case details, hearings and payments.”
Track This Case text message and e-mail notifications are distributed each evening and include case updates made before 5 p.m. that day. Individuals who sign up to receive notifications can expect the notices to include three key pieces of information: case number, filing date, and a description of what has been added or updated regarding the case.
To learn more about Track This Case, visit www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=87154. For assistance in using the feature, contact the office of state courts administrator’s help desk toll-free at (888) 541-4894 or by e-mail at OSCA.Help.Desk@courts.mo.gov.
