'Track This Case' notices expanded to text messages

The Missouri Courts' "Track This Case" feature is being expanded.

People who use the feature to get email notices of activity in court cases they're following now can get text message notices as well.

"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 (OSCA), said in a news release.

Missouri is one of the first states in the country to offer this feature statewide.

Track This Case is part of Case.net, the Missouri court system's online access to docket information found in the statewide case management system.

The Track This Case service began in November 2015 as an experiment and became a permanent Case.net feature last December.

Track This Case provides anyone with a valid email address the ability to sign up for specific cases; to receive email notifications when docket entries are made in those cases; and to get reminders of upcoming payments due, court appearances or hearings scheduled in those cases.

As the text notification program begins, only five providers/carriers are available for the service: AT&T Wireless, Cricket Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

A note said other providers/carriers will be added as they are confirmed as compatible with Track This Case.

OSCA said more than 300 people signed up for the text message service Friday, the day it was announced.

Track This Case notifications are distributed each evening and include case updates made before 5 p.m. that day.

The OSCA news release included a reminder individuals who sign up to receive Track This Case notifications can expect the notices to include three key pieces of information: the case number, a description of what has been added or updated regarding the case, and the date that information was added to the file.

Brooks said Track This Case traffic has seen a "significant increase" during the past four months, since it became a permanent feature.

"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 email 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, chairs the Missouri Court Automation Committee - a committee created by state law to oversee the state's court technology systems.

In the news release, Lynch said: "Timely information is literally being placed at people's fingertips. Coupling email 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."

Lynch said the additional service "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."

More information about the Track This Case service can be found at www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=87154.

For assistance in using the feature - or to report problems with it - contact the Office of State Courts Administrator's help desk toll-free at 888-541-4894 or by email at [email protected].