Judge allows eCourts lawsuit to proceed against vendor, Mecklenburg sheriff

A federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s eCourts implementation can proceed against vendor Tyler Technologies and the Mecklenburg County sheriff. A court order Monday dropped Wake County’s sheriff from the dispute.

Thirteen named plaintiffs are pursuing a lawsuit that could become a class-action case. Plaintiffs claim to represent any person wrongfully arrested or detained in jail longer than necessary because of defects in eCourts software.

“Because this court finds that all named Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that Defendant Tyler Technologies owed them a duty of due care and breached that duty, thereby causing their injuries, Plaintiffs have adequately stated a claim of negligence against Defendant Tyler Technologies,” US District Judge William Osteen wrote in a 97-page order Monday.

The case also can proceed against Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden. Three plaintiffs have “plausibly alleged that Sheriff McFadden owed them a duty of care and breached that duty when they were overdetained,” Osteen wrote. Those plaintiffs can pursue an injunction because “they have plausibly alleged that their constitutional injury was caused by the Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Office failure to train its deputies on how to use the eCourts software.”

Meanwhile, Osteen reached a different conclusion about Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe. “Because this court finds that Defendant Rowe is entitled to statutory immunity for any alleged negligence associated with executing warrants, this court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to plausibly allege a claim of negligence against Defendant Rowe” and his insurer.

Osteen warned that the lawsuit is far from over.

“[T]his court finds that Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged the existence of a general duty between Tyler Technologies and Plaintiffs to require that the motion to dismiss be denied at this stage of the proceedings,” the judge wrote. “However, this court’s findings as to duty are preliminary and based solely upon the complaint and the issues currently before the court.”

“The analysis set forth herein should not be understood by the parties to establish, as a matter of law, the existence of a duty sufficient to establish the law of this case,” Osteen added. “The question of whether a duty existed, if at all, between Tyler Technologies and Plaintiffs cannot be determined until a later stage of this litigation.”

Plaintiffs agreed in May 2024 to drop the director and chief business officer of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts from the lawsuit. They also dismissed complaints against Superior Court clerks in Mecklenburg, Wake, and Lee counties, along with the Lee County sheriff.

“[E]Courts is the culmination of years of learning, planning, and training by numerous judicial stakeholders, including the Judicial Defendants named here,” state Special Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth Curran O’Brien wrote in January 2024 while defending eCourts.

“Prior to the implementation of eCourts, North Carolina courts depended on paper filing, which provided multiple opportunities for error, and made courts slow and inefficient,” O’Brien wrote. “The transition to a digital court management system was a ‘long-term project covering many years and three judicial administrations.’”

The state’s court filing referenced a common theme in the lawsuit’s complaints. “The majority of the allegations relate to orders for arrest that appeared valid in eWarrants, but were allegedly either already served, issued in a now dismissed case, recalled, or issued in error,” O’Brien wrote. “Plaintiff blames this upon negligence, either by the Sheriff Defendants and/or the Clerk Defendants, or by defects in the eCourts software.”

“However, detention pursuant to a facially valid warrant later determined to be served, recalled, or issued in error, does not, without more, violate due process, and thus is not constitutionally unlawful,” she added.

The eCourts system “empowers the public with electronic filing and a free online search Portal to display court records and case events,” according to an AOC news release. The system includes eWarrants and Enforcement Mobile, “which integrate law enforcement processes with the court system.” Guide and File helps “self-represented users create and electronically file common legal actions through automated interviews.”

The eCourts system is expected to reach all North Carolina counties this year.

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