An e-filing system in New Jersey could take longer to go live than previously anticipated after the Assembly Budget Committee amended a bill, S-2207/A-2208, regarding legislation that would allow the Supreme Court to raise filing fees as a way to fund the system.
The bill, which initially stated the funding would support both the e-filing system and the Legal Services of New Jersey, was amended to say that the Legal Services will be the first to get money.
Introduced in October 2012, the bill now awaits its second reading. If passed with the new amendments the bill will need to be returned to the Senate for consideration.
Set up to raise $27.1 million, the e-filing system would see $17 million of that but only after the $10.1 million to supplement the Legal Services’ budget was raised.
The current e-filing system in New Jersey, JEFIS, can only be used for foreclosure cases and in the Special Civil Part. There is no expected timeline as to when the rest of the system will be implemented but there is no doubt that by first allocating funds to Legal Services, it will set back the launch date.
