Computers replacing courthouse law libraries

In a tiny room in the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson, there is space for only one desk and an extra chair. But the computer sitting on that desk has opened up volumes of law cases from all over the country previously unavailable.

The new electronic law library is up and running in Jackson and a similar system will open soon in the Cape Girardeau Common Pleas Courthouse. The information accessed through these two computers replaces the volumes of law books that fill the former law library in the Common Pleas annex.

Not just Missouri court cases are available for review with just a few clicks of a computer mouse.

"It gives us access to court decisions in all 50 states," said Judge John Heisserer. "We don't use all 50 states very often, but if we did we had to go to a major law library to research the issue."

Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said the new system "is like having a Christmas present delivered to me." He said he would let research pile up before scheduling a trip to a law school in Columbia, St. Louis or Carbondale. Now it's available immediately.

The electronic law library also provides more immediate access to Supreme Court rulings. It often takes three months before a Supreme Court ruling is published in supplements. Swingle said if he heard about a ruling that hadn't come out in print yet, he can call the Supreme Court and request a copy of the ruling, but would have to pay for someone there to photocopy the pages and mail them to him.

"Now the day the Supreme Court decides a case, it goes right to the Internet that day," he said. "It really has changed everything."

It used to cost about $3,500 a month to buy the books that filled the law library, Heisserer said. The subscription to those volumes has now been canceled. The Web subscription costs about $1,000 a month less than the hard-bound books.

The system is paid for through membership fees in the Cape Girardeau County Bar Association and a portion of the filing fees in civil cases.

Because part of the funding comes from the public, the system is open to the public. Couples contemplating divorce and who have no children or assets to consider might find the system useful. So would someone interested in a probate case. Research lawyers are available through the Web site to guide a user through the system, Heisserer said.

In Jackson the library is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. In Cape Girardeau the hours will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Members of the public will need to sign in and get a computer password from the office of the circuit clerk.

Advances in technology don't come without some risk. Relying on something that could crash may seem like being a tightrope walker without a net.

"It's putting all our eggs in one basket of technology," Swingle said. "It's a little frightening."

It also evokes a little nostalgia.

"I'm going to miss the feel of the law books in my hands," Swingle said. "It's the way I learned the law, reading the hard-bound books."

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160