As of late July, the public can now access court records filed in Hancock and Washington counties through an online portal.
The move comes amid a statewide effort to digitize Maine’s court documents. Nine of the state’s 16 counties have already digitized their court dockets, and the state’s judiciary intends for records in all counties to be online by February 2027.
The records were digitized the same month construction began on the new $55 million Hancock County judicial center on High Street, which is where the state court system plans to move its local operations in 2028. Hancock County government will remain in the existing courthouse on State Street, which state officials say is too dated and cramped to accommodate the judiciary’s current standards for technology and security.
The state officially retired new paper files in Hancock and Washington counties on July 27. Court staff are now scanning and digitizing only active cases — closed cases will not be digitized unless they are reactivated, according to Barbara Cardone, spokesperson for the Maine Judicial Branch.
All active civil and criminal cases should be available at the public access computers in the Ellsworth and Machias courthouses, Cardone said. Limited court information can be accessed from home through Maine eCourts, the online database that houses the state’s court records.
Prior to digitizing records in Hancock and Washington counties, the judiciary transitioned online court documents in Aroostook County in early June and York County in late March. Filings in Kennebec and Somerset counties were digitized in early February.
Courts in Cumberland County are due to go online in late September, and Waldo, Knox, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties will join in early December. Documents in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties will be the final districts to be digitized in February 2027.