2003 ISSUE

MONTEMAYOR KEYNOTES AT SARAH KING

The young fifth graders at
Sarah S. King Elementary School
had Margaret Montemayor as guest
of honor during the school's
September observance of
Hispanic Culture Month 2003.

The students, mostly hailing from San Antonio's predominantly Hispanic west side, proclaimed "Our Heritage is Our Pride" as their rallying cry for this year.

Montemayor eagerly fielded students' refreshingly curious questions about county government, the Commissioners Court, the courthouses, judges, lawyers and officials.

She in turn regaled them with her own experiences as a young student, her entry into public service as a Deputy District Clerk, her 30 years in a courtroom setting (which eventually inspired her to run for public office), the trials and tribulations of a grassroots campaign, and the pride and joy of being chosen by a racially mixed electorate as Bexar County's 29th and very first female Hispanic District Clerk.

The students excitedly pulled her through their various exhibits and proudly displayed their projects. Lots of "ohs" and "ahs" were directed at the awesome displays of talent.

During her keynote address, she told the students, "always be proud of what you are, and never be afraid to say that you are Hispanic. You can achieve your dreams, if you study hard and stay in school."

To commemorate her visit, the class, through their teacher Guadalupe Ramos, presented her with a certificate of appreciation signed by School Director Celestina Reynolds.

Montemayor later gushed that being with the young students even for just a few hours was more than her allocation of fresh mountain air for the whole day. She witnessed first hand the future of Bexar County, Texas being molded and prepared for good and active citizenship, and was tremendously impressed with what she saw.

eFiling (Continued from middle column)

To complete the historic connection, Montemayor personally received, inspected and processed Unger´s eFiling submission.

eFiling complements the District Clerk´s highly successful FaxFiling service. Introduced in October 1999, FaxFiling enables filers to use their fax connections to transmit court documents to a dedicated bank of receiver fax machines in the District Clerk´s office.

Montemayor´s fast-growing suite of electronic services makes interacting with the district courts a much more rewarding experience.

DC/TexasOnline.Com
Partnership Offers Internet Document Filing Service

Online Case Filing Starts on
Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Link: TexasOnline eFiling
Homepage

June 10, 2003, 11:00 a.m., exactly six months after the Texas Supreme Court approved electronic submissions of court documents in Bexar County, District Clerk Margaret G. Montemayor sat before a computer in her Civil Filings Division and pulled up the first ever District Court document to be filed online.

Electronic Filing—eFiling—has arrived in Bexar County, Texas.

eFiling is a high technology process that enables filers to submit their case documents to the District Courts over a secure Internet connection, and quickly receive confirmation on the status of the filing.

Bexar is the first large county in Texas to utilize eFiling. The service benefits attorneys, law firms, parties to litigation, pro se individuals, state and county agencies or anyone who has cause to file documents with the court.

eFiling recently joined TexasOnline´s varied menu of services. The state created www.TexasOnline.com with the vision of affording Texans online access to government services, data banks, breaking news and state as well as local officials.

San Antonio attorney Mark I. Unger fully intended to make legal history by being the first lawyer to submit a client's case over the Internet. At the first opportunity, he called up the case documents in his computer, pushed a few keys, made a few mouse clicks, and in seconds all documents and fees involved in that particular filing were in cyberspace to eventually find their way in nanoseconds to Montemayor´s computer.

Missing from this exercise is the requirement for Unger to hop into his car, fight downtown traffic, find and pay for parking, walk to the courthouse, fall in line to drop off his case, fall in another line to pay filing fees, then retrace the route back to his office. Thanks to the warp speed, proven reliability, guaranteed security and overall convenience offered by eFiling, those blood-curdling trips are now just unpleasant memories.

With eFiling,Unger and his computer could have been anywhere in the world and accomplished the same thing as long as he can find an Internet connection. He made his first eFiling from a coffee shop, away from the hustle and bustle of his law office.....and the courthouse.

The wide use of portable computers and the ability to plug into the Internet from anywhere resulted in a demand for more Internet-intensive services.

Making that demand even greater is the advent of wireless internet connectivity (WI-FI) that makes computing possible even in places like building lobbies, transportation stations, public amenities, parked vehicles, recreational facilities, coffee shops and the base camp at Mt. Everest. A U.S. airline is planning to make the Internet available inflight to computer-packing passengers.
(Continued in left colum)

DISTRICT CLERK´S CIVIL RECORDS RELOCATE

Margaret G. Montemayor announced that all civil case records and the personnel who maintain them have been relocated to her brand new facility on the second floor of the "Old Courthouse."

The "CI" records involved span the years 2000 to 2004. "TA1" and "TA2" delinquent tax case records are also on the second floor, covering the years 2002 to the present.

Attorney General's child support "EM5" cases from 1999 to the present have been previously moved to Room 3 on the third floor.

Older records not stored in the courthouse may be ordered in advance from the District Clerk's Archives in the Bexar County Records and Training Center at 232 Iowa Street, near the Alamodome.

The Cashier's Office, Bexar County Docket System terminals used free by researchers, microfilms of Minutes of the Civil District Courts, entire case files on film, viewers/printers and their support personnel were also moved to the second floor.

For the greater convenience of customers, the Recording and Records Departments have merged their personnel and operations into a single customer service team now known as the new Records Division. Trained personnel and two supervisors will always be available behind the counter even during lunch hours, with the added benefit of the Records Division Chief's office being in the same space for more personalized handling of unique or non-routine situations.

The modern Records facility was designed and constructed with the needs of users and the courts in mind. Drop by, try out the facility and let us know what you think!