Interview with Charles Bacarisse, Harris County District Clerk
 Charles Bacarisse Recently, we had the pleasure of talking with Charles Bacarisse, who is serving his fourth term as the District Clerk of Harris County – an office that is custodian of the records for 80 courts. Mr. Bacarisse shared his views on the current and future state of eFiling in Harris County and Texas.
Q. What were some of the reasons eFiling was instituted in Harris County?
A. There are so many benefits of an electronic filing system, but two really stood out over the others. When Governor Perry asked me to chair the TexasOnline Authority several years ago, we had compiled more than 300 million pieces of paper, which was stored on 4 floors of the old county jail. In boxes stacked side by side, that's 27 miles worth of paper, with about a mile of paper added each year just in District Clerk files alone! By moving to an electronic delivery system, we could begin to significantly reduce our storage requirements. The second reason was to begin to offer more streamlined services to our constituents. I'm a firm believer that government institutions can and should provide services to the public through methods such as the Internet. The ability to file court documents online is no exception to this.
Q. eFiling requires a whole new way of working with documents. What suggestions would you have for filers to make the process as simple as possible?
A. I think you'll find my staff helpful and supportive of eFiling. They try and make it as easy as possible for law firms. One tip I can offer is that when you first register for services, be sure to give our office permission to correct any errors in your filings. There's a check box on the registration form authorizing us to do this. That way, if you select an incorrect document type from the menu or choose the incorrect fees, my staff can make adjustments and ensure your documents get filed without delay.
Q. Are the judges in Texas supportive of eFiling?
A. I would say that they are warming to it. Most judges will give every benefit to attorneys using the electronic system. It's good for all of us.
Q. If eFiling offers such an advantage to the courts and law firms, why has the State Supreme Court made it voluntary instead of like the federal court system where it is mandatory?
A. Like most major initiatives, electronic filing in the state of Texas is a work in progress. While it clearly offers an improved way of managing court documents, the reality is that there are some areas in Texas where the technology is not quite up to the requirements of eFiling. In a few rural areas, district clerks do not even have their own email address yet. So it will take a while longer for the systems to catch up in these counties so that a mandatory system can be seriously considered. For now, we're very pleased with the increase in adoption of electronic filing among law firms, along with the expanded number of Texas counties that are offering electronic delivery.
Q. What issues are there with eFiling in Harris County and what types of improvements do you see over the next year or so?
A. The biggest challenge we face is the lack of integration in our system. For example, our state has adopted a 3rd party system where firms such as One Legal can file documents on your behalf. However, if you want to purchase copies of other court documents, you must go through my office directly. We recognize that this involves added steps such as having to log in and out of various systems or re-enter your credit card multiple times to get the job done.
We're also working with BearingPoint to streamline the pull down menu on the Harris County system. The legacy system had a very detailed list of document types and the new electronic system needs to align with that original list to a large extent. We're actively working on ways to simplify the process and in fact, have already made some improvements in this area.
Last year, we had some issues with the turnaround time for approvals from my office, but we're pleased that has been solved and the timeframes are much shorter.
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