Philly courts’ civil e-filing, docket searches restored nearly 6 weeks after computer shutdown

The Philadelphia courts system announced Monday that electronic filing and docket searches for civil and Orphans’ Court cases have been restored, nearly six weeks after those programs and others were shut down as a precaution following a virus attack.

“Please be aware that due to an expected surge in user access, intermittent connectivity issues may arise,” the First Judicial District said in a tweet. “Moving forward, e-file will only be compatible with the following web browsers: Microsoft 10 Edge, Safari, and Firefox.”

Electronic filing for criminal cases and the online jury service questionnaire, however, have yet to be restored, court spokesperson Gabe Roberts said Monday. (Online criminal dockets, which are on a statewide portal system, were not affected by the shutdown.)

The courts’ website and certain computer programs were shut down May 21 as a precaution after a virus was found on a limited number of computers. The website was restored Wednesday.

Officials have not reported the source of the virus.

Mark Wheeler, chief information officer for the Kenney administration, said June 22 that the hunt for the culprit remained wide open. He said an examination of the virus to look for a digital “signature” of its creator remained incomplete. He declined to give the location of the attack, but added, “It’s not Russian.”

SoluStaff, a firm based in Montgomery County, was hired to combat the attack and has been paid about $17,000. The company was awarded an additional $60,000 contract for more work to help the First Judicial District modernize its systems and improve security.

Courtrooms have been open during the computer shutdown, and jurors still must report for duty. Although prospective jurors can’t fill out jury questionnaires online, they can mail them in or bring them on their day of service. They also can call 215-683-7170 between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. with questions, or dial that number after 5 p.m. on the day before a scheduled date of service to learn whether they still must report.