Electronic Access to Court Records and Redaction: AOSC 15-18

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1 Electronic Access to Court Records and Redaction: AOSC Presenters: David Margolis General Counsel Donna Dionne Operations Assistant Director Jessica Bond Senior Project Manager Orange County Clerk of Courts

2 Separation of Powers The Florida Supreme Court decides the right of access to court records. Examples include dissolution of marriage, criminal cases, traffic cases, and civil cases The Florida Legislature decides the right of access to everything else. Includes any records held by any government agency other than the court (e.g. state agencies, county agencies, and cities)

3 Non-Court Records Access is determined by the Public Records Law, enacted by the legislature Examples include government contracts, organizational charts, and salaries Some items are exempt from disclosure. Examples include building security information, active contract bidding, employee medical information

4 Requesting Non-Court Records Orange County has an online form Can submit by other means, but use of form is encouraged Request must be acknowledged promptly Request must then be reviewed for legal exemptions and cost of production

5 Rules of Judicial Administration The RJA determines access: The Florida Supreme Court relies on a committee of lawyers (the RJA Committee ) to help create the rules These rules are uniform statewide Rule controls the access to most court records

6 Access Security Matrix First adopted by the Florida Supreme Court in AOSC (May 23, 2014) The matrix determines the level of access to court records given to different user groups. Example: SAO has Level B access to most documents, but only Level D access to probate Most recent version of the matrix was released in August 2017.

7 Criminal & Traffic Court Records Cases involving adult defendants should be visible online, including the content of the actual court documents (the images ) Confidential records include: Search warrants and arrest warrants (until the warrant is served) Social security and bank account numbers Information that reveals the identity of a child abuse or sex crime victim, or address of a DV victim who requests confidentiality Grand Jury records Sealed and expunged records under Chapter 943

8 Civil Cases (CA, CC, SC prefixes) Records are generally available online. Judges can seal a civil court file, but only in certain situations Always remind the public that they are searching one county at a time. As a result, there may be lawsuits in other counties!

9 Family Law Cases: Divorce & Child Custody Records that are normally accessible online Case numbers, party names, and progress docket Records that are available in-person at the courthouse The actual content ( images ) of divorce and child custody motions, responses, financial affidavits, and orders NOTE: some records are not even held by the Clerk, i.e. private civil settlements that the parties never file with the court

10 Family Law Cases: Divorce & Child Custody Records that are normally confidential Adoption, abuse or neglect cases, birth records, guardianship reports, juvenile delinquency Paternity records Certain types of paternity cases or filings may be confidential, i.e. some records in gestational surrogacy cases

11 Family Law Cases Juvenile Records Delinquency records (criminal cases) are confidential Dependency and termination of parental rights (civil cases filed by DCF) are also confidential

12 Family Law Cases Repeat violence or sexual violence injunctions Case number, party names, and progress docket is online The actual content of the filings ( images ) are available in-person, except for portions that may be confidential or sealed What if the injunction was dismissed? See Florida Statute (1)(k).

13 Probate & Mental Health Cases Probate Estate inventories and accountings are confidential Most other records are public, e.g. a copy of a decedent s final will Mental Health Patient s clinical record is confidential Baker Act case numbers, party names, and the progress docket (event log) are available in person at the Clerk s office

14 Privacy Myths As required by law, this information is publicly available: Driver s license numbers Divorce documents Baker Act cases (except for the patient s clinical record) Traffic tickets Criminal cases that were dismissed or nolle prossed (unless the case is sealed or expunged)

15 Privacy Options for Customers If a customer believes a document is confidential.. The filer must submit a Notice of Confidential Information that identifies the specific legal basis for confidentiality. The Clerk will review the notice. If the Clerk cannot keep the record confidential, the Clerk will give the filer ten (10) days notice before releasing the record. The Clerk s decision can always be overruled by a judge.

16 Privacy Options for Customers If a customer believes the Clerk has publicly posted information that is confidential under the law. Encourage the customer to file a Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Court Records, which will be reviewed by a judge. Wrongful disclosure may result in civil liability for the clerk s office. However, the clerk is not liable if the filer failed to file the notice of confidential information. See Florida Statute (2)(g).

17 Paper vs. Electronic Court Records Attorney filers are required to file court documents by electronic means. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin (a). EXCEPTION: attorneys can file paper documents in open court, with permission from the judge. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin (d)(6). Pro se filers have the option to file electronically or by paper. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin (d)(2).

18 Maintaining Electronic Court Records Electronic records are deemed official records. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin (c)(2). Electronically filed records should be retained permanently in electronic format.

19 Maintaining Paper Court Records Most paper records can be destroyed after the original has been electronically scanned. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin (c). MAJOR EXCEPTION: the criminal rules require filers to deposit with the clerk a paper version of any document that is a judgment and sentence or required by statute or rule to be sworn to or notarized. See Fla. R. Crim. P (c). Once deposited, the paper document must be retained even after the document is scanned. The retention period is 10 years or 75 years, depending on the disposition of the case. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin (c)(1).

20 How do customers access court records? My eclerk can be searched online, anonymously Greater online access is available to subscribers, parties, attorneys of record, etc. Anything beyond anonymous access requires registration and submission of a notarized form

21 LIVE DEMO

22 My eclerk Maintenance Product owner reviews potential updates from matrix changes, user feedback Agreed changes are developed by IS&T and tested internally by Operations Internal documentation is updated to reflect changes We created and routinely review OCCC version of the security matrix (ex. MH cases we decided to be more restrictive than required)

23 Recent Updates Added Original documents for SAO, PD, Judiciary Dramatically reduced the number of VOR (Viewable on Request) requests that were being submitted Org savings in hour for processing VORs Updated to allow LEAs to view Baker Act case dockets Otherwise restricted from view (internal OCCC decision) Added the Subscriber role Chose to leave out of original implementation

24 Reference Tool Internal tool to verify access Helps validate potential bugs

25 Questions?