In November 2003, the Florida Supreme Court issued AOSC03 ...



LEON COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE

Electronic Release of Court Records

1. In November 2003, the Florida Supreme Court issued AOSC03-49, which stated that, "effective immediately and until further order of this Court, no court record as defined by Rule of Judicial Administration 2.051(b)(1)(a) shall be released in any electronic form by a Florida Clerk of Court except as provided herein." Thus, the focus was on the form, not whether the data was released on a public vs. subscription website. The public vs. subscription website issues concerned images and a 2002 amendment to Fla. Stat. § 28.2221. This revision provided that clerks could not place an image or copy of a public or official record on the Internet if it was one of the following types: Military discharge; death certificate; or court files, records, or papers relating to matters or cases governed by the Rules of Family Law, Rules of Juvenile Procedures, or Probate Rules.

2. On February 12, 2004, the Florida Supreme Court withdrew AOSC03-49, and issued amended AOSC04-04 which provided a number of exceptions to the previous “no release” restriction, except as otherwise controlled by statute or rule (watch the yellow in later court cases):

a. A court record that has become an “official record”;

b. A court record in a case may be transmitted to a party of an attorney of record in that case;

c. A court record may be transmitted to a governmental agency or agent authorized by law, court rule, or court order to have access to that record;

d. A court record that has been solitarily and individually requested, provided it has been manually inspected by Clerks and no confidential or exempt information is released;

e. A court record in a case that the chief judge of the jurisdiction has designated to be of significant public interest, provided it has been manually inspected by Clerks and no confidential or exempt information is released;

f. Progress dockets limited to - case numbers and case type identification; party names, addresses, and dates of birth; names and addresses of counsel; lists or indices of any judgments, orders, pleadings, motions, notice, or other documents in the court file; court events, clerk actions, and case dispositions, provided no confidential or exempt information is released;

g. Schedules and court calendars;

h. Court records regarding traffic cases;

i. Appellate court briefs, orders, and opinions;

j. Court records that have been inspected by Clerks may be viewed via a public view terminal within an office of a clerk of court, provided no confidential or exempt information may be viewed.

Concerning only exception d above, the Florida Supreme Court issued its prohibition against the sale of “bulk data” in footnote 3:

This provision permits a clerk of court to respond via electronic mail to an individual and specific request for a record and is designed to facilitate access to a document by persons interested in specific litigation. Because this provision requires that each document be manually inspected by a qualified person employed by the clerk of court to assure that no information which is confidential or exempt is released, the use of automated programs in lieu of manual inspection is not permitted. The exception does not permit electronic transmittal of documents requested in large quantity, or permit the requested record to be supplied to anyone other than the requestor.

After this opinion issued, the FCCC legal counsel agreed that companies could have access to this data pursuant to exception f, as long as they were permitted access only to the elements listed.

3. In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court issued AOSC06-21, was an interim policy that allowed extensive docket information to be released electronically, as well as all final orders and judgments, as long as no confidential information was released. This order approached the list of exceptions a little differently. First, it said that clerks could release the following records electronically IF the information released is not confidential per federal or state law, court rule or court order (changes from 2004 noted in green; there are additions but also note party addresses were deleted):

a. Progress dockets limited to - case numbers and case type; party name, race, gender and year of birth; names and addresses of counsel; lists or indices of any judgments, orders, pleadings, motions, notice, or other documents in the court file; court events, clerk actions, and case dispositions; name and date of birth and death of deceased in probate cases, address of attorney of record or self-represented party in a probate case;

b. Court records that are Official Records;

c. Court schedules and calendars;

d. Traffic court records;

e. All appellate court filings, including motions, briefs, orders, and opinions;

This order said the following records could be made available electronically IF the clerk manually inspects the records and no confidential information is released:

a. Chief judge directs the electronic release of records in a case of significant public interest;

b. Records to a party, attorney of record in a case, or an attorney expressly authorized by a party in the case to receive the records;

c. Records individually and specifically requested;

d. Records to a governmental agent or agency;

e. Civil cases in which a state agency defined in FS 119.011(2) is a party, except court files sealed by statute, court rule, or court order, which require a specific order from the court unsealing the file

f. Pleadings, proofs of service, motions and orders in actions affecting the title to real property or tenancies to real property, including foreclosures of mortgages, ejectments, actions to clear title, specific performance, residential and non-residential evictions, forcible entry and detainers, lien contest actions, partition actions, and actions in which a lis pendens has been filed;

g. Pleadings, proofs of service, motions and order in actions for declaratory judgments to establish foreign decrees as Florida judgments;

h. Injunctions affecting real property, excluding domestic violence injunctions, and order denying or dismissing an injunction affecting real property.

Significantly, footnote 3 re “bulk data” was not carried forward from the 2004 AO to the 2006 or subsequent AOs.

4. In 2007, the Florida Supreme Court issued AOSC07-49, which affirmed the information permitted in AOSC06-21, but clarified that it (all of this is a change, but pay particular attention to the blue):

a. Did not apply to records under the control of court administration;

b. Limited application of the provision that addressed "traffic court records" to civil traffic infraction case records;

c. Disallowed the electronic release of images of traffic citations;

d. Permitted the electronic release of the full date of birth of defendants in criminal cases;

e. Permitted clerks to provide attorneys remote electronic access to records in cases in which the entire court file is not confidential.

5. The federal Driver License Protection Act (18 USC §§ 2721 – 2725; Florida version is FS 119.0712(2)) issued next, designed to limit public access to SSN, DL or ID card number, name, address, telephone number, medical or disability information, and emergency contact information contained in motor vehicle and driver license records. However, DHSMV told the FCCC legal counsel group the specified information is not confidential under the DPPA unless it is contained on a driving record. If it is on a traffic citation, it is not covered by the DPPA but may be covered by another provision of statute or rule. This is confirmed by AGO 2010-10. The group then agreed that the Softech request for traffic records could be fulfilled.

6. Since 2007, the Florida Supreme Court has issued a number of affecting court records, including those provided electronically:

a. SC06-2040, which amended Rule 2.430 to create a comprehensive judicial branch records management and retention program. See also AOSC08-5.

b. AOSC09-30, which provided statewide standards for electronic access to the courts.

c. AOSC10-17, which provided standards for electronic recordkeeping systems.

d. A number of orders that permit various clerks statewide to accept and use electronic records (efiling).

FSC AOs (those starting w/ AO) are found here –

FSC opinions (those starting w/ SC) are found here –

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