AUGUSTA – The chief justices of nearly all the states and the top administrators of those courts will meet in Maine next week, with some serious topics to consider while enjoying the Maine coast.

“Court security, access to the courts, electronic records and many other issues are on the agenda,” said Maine Chief Justice Leigh Saufley in an interview last week. “In addition to the chief justices meeting as a group to discuss issues, there are several committee meetings dealing with some substantive issues, and at the same time the justices’ conference is under way, the court administrators’ group will be meeting. It will be a busy few days.”

Saufley said both groups had some discussions on court security before last fall’s terrorist attacks, but now there is greater urgency to addressing the issue. She said some courts across the country have had far more serious problems than Maine, with officials attacked and injured.

“They are talking about a level of concern we have not even begun to grapple with,” she said. “They talk about the serious issues of surreptitious terrorism, of bioterrorism. I can’t even keep people from bringing guns through the courthouse door, so I am probably a decade behind some of the conversations.”

Saufley said Maine is moving to bolster its court security with the bond issue approved by voters in June. It included $540,000 for security equipment. But she acknowledged new equipment is only a small part of what will be needed to provide the necessary security at all the courtrooms used by the District, Superior and Supreme Judicial courts.

“I think it will help us to have these representatives of other courts that have already gone through this before here at the meeting,” she said. “They had to learn the hard way, and hopefully we can learn from their mistakes.”

Another area Saufley said will be a major topic at the conference will be access to court records in the age of the Internet. She said a group that has been working on a model plan will present its work to all the justices.

“There are not simple, easy answers to all of the electronic issues that come up,” she said. “We are several years away, I would say, minimally, from getting to the point where we have a significant amount of our records available to the public.”

But, she said, the conference will be very helpful to Maine officials as they plan to implement an electronic records system that Saufley hopes will be of great benefit to Mainers as they deal with the courts.

“I see, in my dreams, that Mrs. Smith who would like to see when her case is being heard, or whether her lawyer has filed that document that he was going to file being able to simply log on, go to the public records section and determine what the status of her case is,” Saufley said.

Still, she said that day is “years away” in Maine and will require significant resources that will be hard to find.

Saufley said former Chief Justice Daniel Wathen deserves the credit for getting the national group to meet in the state. She said it was one problem she inherited that was a pleasant one after Wathen resigned last fall to run for governor, only to drop out of the race after a few weeks.

Maine Court Administrator Ted Glessner said more than 200 judges, staff and administrators will be meeting at several locations in the Rockland and Camden areas. He said many of the judges and other officials are expected to arrive next weekend before the work sessions start July 29 and some will stay through the following weekend.

“Many will bring spouses and families, and there will be a number of activities for them throughout the area,” he said Friday. “I expect it will have an [economic] impact on the area as any national conference would have.”

State Economist Laurie LaChance agrees. She says there are both short-term and long-term benefits to the state when it hosts any national or regional conference that attracts a significant number of participants.

“I certainly think this one would have a positive impact,” she said Friday, “and it is not only the immediate benefit that is helpful. People from across the country get exposed to the beauty of Maine and we know many come back to vacation later and some decide to retire to the state after a meeting like this, so yes, I think it will have a significant impact.”

The state tourism office has research completed earlier this year on the per-person impact from a person that visits the state and stays over at least one night, said Steve Lyons. He said on average each overnight visitor spends $288 a day in Maine for everything from meals to gifts to travel costs to get to the state.

Based on those figures, the judges and other court officials will be spending at least $60,000 a day for the three days of the conference. The impact is likely to be greater because of those that arrive early or leave late, or both.