Proposal may open court records

Certain groups would have access

As it stands now, news reporters and some police and social workers who need to see documents in a criminal case have to make a trip to a courthouse during business hours to use a public computer kiosk to view a scanned file.

Even private attorneys don’t have remote computer access to criminal cases unless they are involved.

It’s a process that can slow down investigations and affect dissemination

of accurate public information.

Against that backdrop, the state Supreme Court is considering a proposal — which is open to public comment — to allow these groups and a few others to view criminal and civil

court files from their own computer at any time.

It’s a step toward allowing remote court database access to the public. But granting full public access would require some sort of private information redac-

tion system.

The state judiciary budget for next year includes a request of $1.25 million for software that would redact private information like Social Security numbers, birth dates and driver’s license information that often winds up in court documents.

“We feel an obligation to modernize our access to our documents as long as we can do it within the law and the limitations we have,” said Artie Pepin, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The proposal under consideration would authorize certain groups of professionals — not the full public — to have access to the database. And, if approved, it would stay in place even if the courts’ request for redaction software funding is denied by the Legislature.

Under the proposal, anyone in an authorized group — including reporters, law enforcement, state social workers, judges, attorneys and their staff — would be required to register with the AOC and sign agreements to handle any private information appropriately.

People involved in a case could sign up to view only their own files.

“We are in favor of it. We think it is a positive step that the media (could be) granted this access, but it is just one step to what we hope is allowing the public online access to records,” said Greg Williams, attorney for KOAT and the Journal.

If the proposal is approved, members of the public would still have to travel to a courthouse to view court documents on a computer as they do now.

That currently involves viewing a record at a public kiosk, then requesting a printout from a court employee who uses a marker to color over the private information.

Media, in the proposal, is defined as “any person who regularly gathers, prepares, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports or publishes news or information about matters of public interest in any medium and who successfully applies to participate in online access and agrees to comply with all court rules.”