Carbon County recently went live with its new court website, which officials are calling more "user-friendly" and up-to-date with the latest information out of the courthouse.

The website,

www.carboncourts.com, was built over the past year by Carbon Information Technology Director Ann Schlough using Adobe Dreamweaver CS software."Everything is organized and we hope easy to find," Schlough said. "In the upper left corner, there is a box with the latest court updates. Below that you can find the latest opinions from our county judges. There is also a calendar with all the civil and criminal court dates."Clicking on the self-service tab gives people access to a number of forms including how to file for divorce, child custody or a protection from abuse order.For a $300 yearly subscription fee, users can search prothonotary and orphan court records.The front page also has links to the most requested information from visitors such as directions, a phone directory, filing fees and employment opportunities."We do plan on doing continual upgrades," Schlough said. "For example in our jury services section, we have all the information on there, but you'll also be able to download the jury pamphlet right from the site."The site is hosted on a Web server in the courthouse and will be maintained by the IT staff.The new website isn't the only one bringing the courts into the 21st century.Judge Joseph Matika recently created a Twitter page that he will manage at

www.twitter.com/CarbonCtyCourt."The goal with both the Twitter feed and the website is to give out more information on our court system," Matika said.The Twitter feed features retweets of rulings from other Pennsylvania courts, as well as local information from Carbon. Matika said he would likely tweet links to opinions from Carbon judges and other vital information, such as when the courthouse will be closed."It's 2016 and social media plays an important role in society," Matika said. "We hope it will be helpful."