Baltimore courts to close to public, reduce docket loads for launch of electronic filing system

Baltimore courts will be closed to the public on Monday, May 6, as Maryland Jdiciary staff work to implement the electronic filing system that every other jurisdiction in Maryland has used since 2022.

The much-anticipated transition to Maryland Electronic Courts, or MDEC, will affect court dockets for several days, according to administrative orders issued in preparation for the change.

The city’s circuit and district courts will be entirely closed to the public on May 6, the day that MDEC is scheduled to “go live.” Staff and judges will still be working at courthouses that day.

Closing the courts for a day is the regular procedure when a new jurisdiction launches MDEC, said Terri Charles, an assistant public information officer for the Maryland Judiciary.

“This time is used for the conversion and transfer of the legacy system data … to the MDEC system,” Charles said in an email. “In addition, those cases existing in paper on the MDEC go-live date must be scanned into the MDEC system and the new electronic dockets need to be set up.”

Judicial Information Systems staff, clerks’ office staff and MDEC vendor Tyler Technologies will also work during the weekend before the launch date to begin operations on MDEC, she said.

The city’s circuit court will also close its dockets to everything but emergency matters on Thursday, May 2 and Friday, May 3. The circuit court will reopen to the public on Tuesday, May 7.

All of Baltimore’s District Court buildings will be closed on May 6, though the District 1 Court Commissioner’s Office at 1 North Charles Street will remain open to process interim peace and protective orders and handle applications for statements of charges.

The Commissioner’s Office will contact district judges who are assigned May 6 to handle emergency evaluations for people who may pose a danger to themselves or others. Law enforcement will still be able to reach district judges for the review of search and seizure warrants.

On Tuesday, May 7, the district court dockets will remain closed except for bail reviews at the Wabash and Hargrove courthouses and for civil peace and protective orders at the Eastside Courthouse. The Civil Court building will be open for emergency motions to stay evictions, and the Help Center there will be open to the public.

For the rest of that week, the district court dockets will operate at 25% capacity except for bail reviews and civil peace and protective orders at their respective courthouses. The district courts will slowly ramp up operations until they reach full capacity again on May 28.

The Maryland Judiciary Case Search will also be unavailable from Friday, May 3, beginning at 6 p.m., until 8 a.m. on Monday, May 6, because of the MDEC transition in Baltimore.

Baltimore City’s MDEC launch comes almost a decade after electronic filing was first piloted in Anne Arundel County in October 2014.

Electronic filing is now required in every other jurisdiction in Maryland. The largest jurisdictions came last, with Prince George’s County joining MDEC in October 2022, Montgomery County in October 2021 and Baltimore County in February 2019.