AUGUSTA — It’ll take $17 million and five years to bring Maine’s courts into the 21st century.

Maine has selected Tyler Technologies to transform the state’s 200-year-old system of paper court filings and documents tucked in courthouse cabinets.

Tyler currently has four offices in Maine.

The company’s software will let court users initiate cases and file motions remotely and let litigants access case filings without having to travel to a courthouse.

The system is for the Maine’s district, superior and Supreme Judicial courts. The state says the system also will track bail, warrants and protection orders.

A spokeswoman for Maine’s Judicial Branch said Tyler is contracted to receive approximately $17 million over the next decade. Maine will roll out the plan in stages, with the first phase to be completed in 2019.

“Ultimately we will save thousands of square feet of courthouse space currently used for paper file storage,” spokeswoman Mary Ann Lynch

The plan also calls for advanced security measures to protect court files and personal data.

U.S. federal courts began offering electronic public access to documents in 2001.

Since then, states have followed suit to cut costs, increase convenience and improve access. Maine is one of a dozen states, including New Hampshire and Rhode Island, that chose Tyler to roll out paperless systems.

The company says its software is used by more than 600 county courts nationwide. A spokesman didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

There have been hiccups.

A Tennessee county official recently criticized a records system involving several companies, including Tyler. The company called news coverage “inaccurate” and said it’s working on “normal, post-implementation” issues.

In New Hampshire, attorney Gina Belmont, said Tyler’s case management software has been successfully implemented in all circuit and superior courts across the state.

Associated Press writer Kathy McCormack contributed to this report from Concord, New Hampshire.

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