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The final group of counties to implement the eCourts conversion, which began in February 2023, went online Oct. 13. All 100 North Carolina counties now have online access to court records and services.
NC Administrative Office of the Courts
Raleigh
North Carolina courts this month crossed a major threshold into the digital age, shifting court records from a final batch of 13 counties from the courthouse to the cloud.
It’s a pivotal moment for state courts and their years-long effort to digitize an archaic system that relied on paper filings and a mainframe.
“Full implementation of the eCourts project is a significant milestone in modernizing the North Carolina court system,” reads a quote from Ryan S. Boyce, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, in a recent press release.
While AOC officials have been touting the system’s successes, they haven’t shared much publicly about the increased costs or expanded services included in what started out as a 10-year, $85 million contract with Texas-based Tyler Technologies in 2019.
A News & Observer review of contract amendments and add-on agreements indicates the total cost could be more than double that — at least $188.8 million — through 2034.
That is just the amount the state could pay Tyler, the company selected to digitize and integrate the many facets of the court system used by thousands of state employees, law enforcement and millions of residents.
State pay records obtained by the News & Observer indicate AOC has also spent millions of dollars on overtime, with the amounts climbing in 2023 and 2024 after AOC launched the conversion. In addition, AOC has spent at least $8.7 million on equipment and IT services related to the transition, excluding Tyler.
When asked about the costs outlined in Tyler’s now 15-year contract and its amendments, AOC communications director Graham Wilson noted that changes to the contract added new services and customizations, including a digital warrant and appellate case management systems, “rather than cost escalations of the original agreement’s scope.”
He also wrote that it “is not consistent with the terms of the contract” to say that AOC has committed to paying Tyler at least $188.8 million through 2034.
“The contract provides a fixed cost structure for prospective software services that limits escalation fees over the 15-year period from 2020-2034,” wrote Wilson. The statement stressed that AOC can terminate the contract and will only pay for services provided in compliance with the contract.
That said, AOC has given no indication it plans to walk away from the cloud-based system it has spent years — and tens of millions of dollars — building and integrating.
From courthouse to keyboard
Work on the new system began about a decade ago, aimed at replacing stacks of courthouse paper with a digital system accessible anywhere with an internet connection.
A committee of court officials from across the state spent months reviewing bids from potential vendors before unanimously backing Tyler’s plan, The News & Observer reported.
AOC signed the 10-year, $85 million contract with Tyler in the summer of 2019. North Carolina became the most populous state to use the company’s Odyssey software, according to a Tyler press release.
In July 2022, the state rolled out a new digital warrant system. By February 2023, Wake and three other counties became the first to pilot online access and filing through eCourts, giving residents the ability to file documents, pay fines and look up civil, criminal and traffic cases online.
Months after that launch, a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against counties, sheriffs and Tyler contended that North Carolina residents were wrongly arrested or detained due to flaws in the system. In September 2023, district attorneys in the pilot and other counties pushed for an independent review of the rollout due to glitches and delays.
AOC officials did not pursue the evaluation. They instead urged patience as court workers adjusted to the changes and Tyler made fixes. And it took steps to expand and increase Tyler’s contract.
The now statewide record management system does more than improve the public’s access to records previously available only in courthouses across the state. More than 47,000 people in law enforcement use it to send citations, warrants and magistrate orders straight to court officials. So do state Department of Motor Vehicles, Health and Human Services and Department of Justice staff, according to information from AOC.
As recently as last month, district attorneys from the three Triangle counties stated that the new system remains cumbersome and difficult to use, resulting in slow data entry, delays, and other challenges.
“People in the field have stopped attempting to report issues because issues reported never seem to be resolved,” wrote Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman in an email.
How the contract evolved and expanded
Documents that The N&O obtained with public records requests show how the Tyler contract expansion unfolded before and after the conversion started:
- July 2019: Initial deal with NCAOC is announced for $85 million.
- February 2020: Tyler signs a $14.5 million contract with AOC for an eCitation program to integrate a digital solution system for citations.
- July 2020: Tyler signs a $24 million contract with AOC to establish an electronic warrant processing system, which was launched in July 2022.
- February 2023: Pilot counties, including Wake, Johnson, Lee and Harnett, implemented the digital eCourts system.
- September 2023: Contract amendment number seven added $1.6 million in “post implementation custom development.”
- December 2023: AOC extended the length of the Tyler Technologies contract from 10 to 15 years, according to contract amendment number eight, which included an optional $3.2 million for customer support account management fees. The potential cost: an additional $76.9 million through fiscal years 2030 and 2034.
- January 2024 to September 2025: Contract amendments nine through 16 added nearly $2 million in “post-implementation custom development” fees.
The contract and its amendments were signed and expanded over a period where AOC was run by three directors appointed by two North Carolina Supreme Court chief justices, a Democrat and a Republican. Boyce, the current director, was appointed in 2023.
The News & Observer asked AOC multiple times how much they have paid Tyler to date, but officials did not respond.
An N&O analysis of records obtained from the Office of the State Controller, however, shows it has paid Tyler Technologies $63.2 million for “software subscriptions” and “automation services” from January 2020 to Sept. 10, 2025.
In addition, AOC has paid $8.7 million to other vendors from Oct. 16, 2023 to April 29, 2025 out of two designated eCourts accounts for IT services, computer/printer equipment, workshops, lodging, transportation and meals.
More than half of those expenses — $5.2 million — was paid to one company, Computer Aid Inc., for “IT project management analysis services,” according to the expense records.
Other vendors include: 1st Run Computer Services Inc, $993,435; Mainline Information Systems, $443,468; and Lenovo Inc., $317,776.
A true accounting of the overall cost is a complex task, Wilson, the agency’s communications director, wrote in an email. An accurate analysis would weigh short- and long-term savings, as well as the project’s overall scope and longevity, Wilson said.
“It would be difficult to analyze comprehensively the inestimable value of online services for the state compared to paper processes, or to predict the potential future savings from automation, digital access, and other modern technologies that the new system supports,” Wilson wrote.
What records show about overtime pay at AOC
An N&O analysis of employee compensation records obtained from the Department of State Treasurer shows overtime pay for AOC employees started rising as the state prepared to launch eCourts in the pilot counties in October 2022, which was eventually delayed until February 2023.
Overtime costs, mostly paid to deputy clerks and assistant clerks, totalled $4.7 million in 2023 and reached $6.3 million in 2024.
That’s a significant contrast to the $2.3 million in overtime AOC paid over a decade, from 2010 to 2020.
When asked about overtime costs, Wilson provided information indicating that AOC authorized $4.78 million in overtime in 2024 and $1.1 million in January and February for overtime pay to employees related to the digital transition.
“The Judicial Branch authorized some employees to work limited overtime in recent years. This authorization equipped clerks, district attorneys, and judicial offices with resources to address the COVID-19 shutdowns and the implementation of digital courts,” Wilson said in an email response.
AOC did not provide any explanation of the difference between the authorized overtime costs and the overtime pay in the Department of State Treasurer’s records.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
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Virginia Bridges,David Raynor
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