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| Release Date: December 18, 2001 | Release Number: 91 |
San Francisco—The Judicial Council of California today approved new statewide rules that expand public access to electronic trial court records while protecting privacy interests. The rules take effect July 1, 2002, and apply to all California superior courts.
Today’s action culminates a six-year program by the council’s Court Technology Advisory Committee to provide statewide guidance in an area of growing importance to the public and the courts.
Similar to federal court policies, the new California rules permit broad electronic access to most civil records while restricting remote Internet access in criminal records and other cases that are likely to contain sensitive personal information. Key features of the rules follow.
Basic case information: Courts will provide electronic access to basic information about all cases through computer terminals at the courthouse or remotely over the Internet. The rule requires electronic access to the extent feasible for “registers of actions,” calendars and indexes, and other records in civil cases. State law provides that the register of actions should include the title of each case, the date it began, and a memorandum of every subsequent proceeding in the action with its date.
Case-by-case access: When a court provides electronic access to records other than calendars, registers, and indexes, it may do so only on a case-by-case basis, using the case number, caption, or name of party to identify the record. Likewise, the court may not provide “bulk distribution” of its records other than calendars, registers, and indexes.
Remote access: Records in six types of cases – other than registers, calendars, and indexes –will be available electronically at the courthouse but may not be available remotely, due to privacy concerns. These case types are family law; juvenile; guardianship or conservatorships; mental health; criminal; and civil harassment.
Courts without electronic access: The rules do not require courts to maintain electronic court records. If such access is not feasible because a court does not have the resources or technical capacity to provide it, the court must still make all of its electronic records available in some form, for example, by printing out paper copies of the records.
Vendor Contracts: A court’s contract with a vendor to provide public access to its electronic records must be consistent with the new rules, and require the vendor to provide access and protect confidentiality as required by law.
In addition, the council requested that staff, in consultation with the Court Technology Advisory Committee, report back to the council by January 2004 on the experience of state courts in providing electronic access to court records over the Internet and other related issues.
In today’s action, the Judicial Council approved the Court Technology Advisory Committee’s recommendation to adopt new rules 2070–2076 of the California Rules of Court and repeal section 38 of the Standards of Judicial Administration. The new rules were developed pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6(b), which requires the council to adopt uniform rules for electronic filing and service of documents in trial courts by 2003.
The Judicial Council is the policymaking body of the California courts,
the largest court system in the nation. Under the leadership of the
Chief Justice and in accordance with the California Constitution, the council
is responsible for ensuring the consistent, independent, impartial, and
accessible administration of justice. The Administrative Office of
the Courts carries out the official actions of the council and ensures
leadership and excellence in court administration.
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