More court records to be online

$1.25M computer program needed before database is fully opened

The state Supreme Court approves broader public access to criminal and civil court records, a policy that could go into effect in March.

A new state policy approved by the Supreme Court allows more people to view criminal and civil court records from a personal computer anytime.

The policy also allows the broader public access to the system, but the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts has to buy a $1.25 million computer program to protect private information before fully opening the database.

For now, the policy, announced Friday, grants access to the press, attorneys and their staffs, litigants representing themselves, and “justice partners,” such as law enforcement and child welfare agencies.

These groups have to register and promise to not misuse the private identifying information often included in court records, such as birth dates, and Social Security and driver’s license numbers.

Until the policy goes into effect, possibly some time in March, the AOC says, members of the public, news reporters and others who are barred from accessing the database remotely will still have to trek to their local courthouse during business hours to use a public kiosk.

The Supreme Court’s ruling this week came about a month after a public hearing on the policy, which had been considered among court administrators for years.

“There was broad support for the policy during testimony at a public hearing last month. Allowing online access to electronic records in civil and criminal cases will improve governmental transparency, assist attorneys and governmental agencies in their work, and help members of the press, under their First Amendment rights, provide timely and accurate information to the public,” the AOC said in a news release Friday.

The new, more open system will maintain restrictions on access to juvenile and some other types of cases, according to the AOC.