State Supreme Court of Appeals announces free online ‘Case Management System’

By Matthew Young, RealWV

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – “We understand that this court belongs to the people of our state, [and] it needs to be accessible to those who have a need to have information relating to our court system and the filings in our magistrate court.”

That’s what Tim Armstead, chief justice of West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals told reporters during a Thursday press conference at the State Law Library in the capitol building in Charleston. Armstead, along with fellow Justices C. Haley Bunn, William R. Wooten, Elizabeth D. Walker, and John A. Hutchison, were on-hand to unveil the court’s new online Case Management System.

“What we’re excited to announce today is that we have a new way that the citizens of West Virginia can access information about our magistrate courts,” Armstead told those in attendance. “Before, you often had to go to the individual courthouses and access this information. This system will allow anyone, from your own computer or mobile device – any library in our state – to be able to access information regarding magistrate court filings.”

Armstead noted that a publicly-accessible online record system has been a frequent request of West Virginians for the past several years, adding that the available assortment of documents on the Case Management System will go back as far as 2003.

“In some counties, even farther,” the chief Justice said. 

“Now you can go onto this database and do a magistrate court search for all 55 counties at one time,” Armstead explained. “It’s free. You don’t have to subscribe to any service. You can go on your own [device] and research this information from that one database.”

“Let me thank our team that has worked on this,” Armstead continued. “This was done internally by our IT folks that work with the court. They’ve put a lot of time, effort, and work into this, and they’re excited to have it rolled out today.”

“It’s been a real commitment of this court over the last several years to try to make court records more accessible,” Armstead added. “We think this is the next step in that process. We’re going to continue to look for opportunities to make our documents and records even more accessible. We recognize these documents belong to the public, and this is a court system that’s here to serve the citizens of our state.”

Also during the press conference, Director of Magistrate Services Nicole Cofer provided those in attendance with a demonstration of the new system.

“It will show what the final disposition of each of the charges were,” Cofer explained. “If you continue to scroll down, it will show you the list of documents that are available. Now you cannot get these documents online, but it will direct you to the correct county. Then you can go to that county and ask for the documents that you need under that case because you’ll know what’s there and what’s not already.”

All public access terminals currently located in the magistrate clerk’s office at each of the state’s 55 counties will also be upgraded to provide search results from all counties in West Virginia. 

The Case Management System may be accessed by visiting MCRSearch.courtswv.gov. An informational “how to” video is available on the site, as well.