Maine expanded its electronic court system to all case types in Cumberland County on September 28, changing filing procedures for attorneys and other required electronic filers.
The Judicial Branch's September 23 notice identifies the courts involved as the Cumberland County Unified Criminal Docket and Superior Court, Portland District Court and Bridgton District Court. Civil, family, juvenile and criminal cases are included.
People representing themselves who file fewer than six cases in a calendar year are not required to use electronic filing, according to the notice. Required filers must use eFileMaine for documents covered by the transition.
The change also affects the older ShareFile process. The notice said ShareFile would stop accepting the listed criminal, civil-violation and juvenile filings September 24. Court-appointed attorney payment vouchers have a separate 60-day grace period.
Filers remain responsible for protecting nonpublic personal information. The court notice directs users who omit identifying information from a document to submit the designated identifying-information form as an attachment.
The Judicial Branch's training page provides recorded instruction and resources for setting up an account and submitting documents. That material is intended to help people move from paper-based procedures into the electronic system.
Online criminal fine payments for Cumberland County cases also move to the new payment portal. Electronic-filing support is available through the court's help service, including a telephone line Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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