The Texas Legal Service Center has launched virtual court kiosks statewide to help low income and rural Texans.
The Texas Legal Service Center said the virtual court access project empowers Texans to attend virtual proceedings by giving them virtual court kiosks.
TLSC Executive Director Karen Miller said there are two in the Coastal Bend with one available to the public at La Retama Central Library.
“It includes a printer, and a camera and a microphone and all of the equipment someone would need to participate in a hearing that is being done online," Miller said.
Miller added users can receive help by calling the number on the computer or by chat to help with any technical issues or if they have legal questions and it’s free.
“The kiosk is a portal to all kinds of educational materials that talk about how to present yourself in court just generally but also more specifically about different types of cases,” Miller said.
The kiosk does not give you legal representation.
Miller said as long as the court provides the proceeding online, you can use the kiosk at the library to participate.
“Sometimes people have the opportunity to request that the proceeding be held online, but it is up to the judge whether it’s conducted virtually or not,” Miller said.
Miller said more people are likely to participate in court proceedings when they are accessible virtually.
“We can’t really have justice if only 20 percent of the time, someone is coming and participating in their hearing. We may come up with an order, we may have movement, but it’s not going to feel like justice if all the parties aren’t able to participate,” Miller said.
If you would like to use the virtual court kiosk Miller said you will need to make a reservation and you can make one here.
