Starting Feb. 2, district and superior courts in Augusta, Waterville and Skowhegan will switch from their paper filing and case management systems to a new online Maine eCourts system.

It’s a fully electronic platform, with courts in York County scheduled to follow in March.

The modernization, which has already taken place in some courthouses across Maine, will change how the public interacts with, submits, views and obtains court documents.

With that substantial change coming, here are five takeaways about the upcoming and long-awaited update from paper to digital.

WHAT IS IT?

Maine eCourts is a suite of applications and web-based tools, each designed to handle different aspects of the courts. Those include re:Search, which will be used by lawyers and the public to access and view court files and documents; Enterprise Justice for case management; eFile Maine for uploading and submitting documents; and Defendant Access for online fine and fee payments.

It was created and is being implemented by Tyler Technologies, a nationwide firm that has offices in Yarmouth, although the division responsible for the conversion is based in Texas . The contract for the work was signed in 2016.

WHAT DOES IT COST?

State officials have previously estimated it’s cost $17 million to build out the system so far. Most of that comes from part of the state’s $15 million contract withTyler Technologies, funded by bonding by the Maine Judicial Branch, which was authorized by the Maine Legislature.

After it’s up and running, the system will have annual operating costs. Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill told state legislators last year the Judicial Branch will need additional funding to operate the new eCourts system. Nearly $2 million a year is needed to help cover those costs.

A Maine Judicial Branch spokesperson, Barbara Cardone, did not reply to questions via email or phone over a two-week period about the new eCourts system, including its cost.

WHEN IS IT HAPPENING?

While creation of the system has been delayed by setbacks including a hacking attack at Tyler Technologies, and has been several years in the making, eCourts has already been implemented in some places, including the Business and Consumer Court and in courts in Penobscot, Franklin and Oxford counties.

The new system is expected to go live in the Kennebec and Somerset county courthouses in Augusta, Waterville and Skowhegan on Monday, and go online in York County courts March 30. Officials say they hope to have most or all of the rest of the state’s court system converted by the end of this year, according to Christopher Oberg, applications manager for the Judicial Branch.

“This is a significant milestone for us,” Oberg said at a recent training session for users of the new system. “All those years of hard work have finally come to fruition, and now we’re ready to take that package we’ve rolled out and start rolling that out incrementally across the state. Yes, that’s aggressive, it’s going to be a lot of work, but we think we can do it.”

HOW DOES IT WORK?

With paper filings being converted to digital, members of the public seeking court documents may use public terminals being installed in courthouses to view documents.

Anyone looking to view cases or file documents online will need to establish an eFile Maine account for access. Lawyers will be required to use the new system, while self-filers representing themselves in court will not be required and can still file paper documents.

Initial plans will allow only some court documents to be viewed by the public online, including those deemed public by law. Lawyers and parties to cases will have “elevated access” and be able to access all their case files online. Members of the public will be able to view publicly accessible documents at courthouses on computer terminals.

Jenny Anderson, manager of court services, said at an eCourts training session last month that court documents designated as publicly accessible and aren’t quite ready for online viewing will be available online on re:Search at some point after the system is functioning.

WILL THE COURTS BE READY?

As part of the implementation, each courthouse getting the new system closed for a few days last week leading up to the switchover. Before that, the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta held a “blitz,” bringing in additional judges to work with lawyers with pending cases to try to resolve as many cases as possible to reduce the docket load in preparation for eCourts implementation. Dockets have been reduced in the coming weeks to try to avoid overloading the system as the new technology is implemented.

As part of the changeover, courthouse computer systems will be changed over from Mac-based equipment to Windows PC-based, further complicating the switch.

Training is being provided to clerks, judges and others using the system.

“It’s not just changing and implementing eFile, it’s also taking away the physical files that you’re used to seeing in the courtroom,” said Kyle Ferrill, eFiling process manager. “It is a change to get acclimated to — something we’ll all be going through together, as we get used to the new platform.”