179 Proposed amendments to the electronic case record public access policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania

Title 204—JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS

PART VII. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA COURTS

[ 204 PA. CODE CH. 213 ]

Proposed Amendments to the Electronic Case Record Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania

[42 Pa.B. 658]
[Saturday, February 4, 2012]

 The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopt several limited amendments to the Policy which will clarify that (1) the Policy does not govern public access to images of documents that are stored in PACMS, CPCMS, or MDJS; (2) a party's street address will be available only on web docket sheets concerning civil and landlord tenant matters filed in magisterial district courts; and (3) academic requests for bulk distribution of electronic case records for restricted data (Policy Section 3.10) must indicate whether Institutional Review Board approval has been received.

 The entire Policy is embodied in 204 Pa. Code §§ 213.71to 213.79 and is viewable at: http://www.pacourts.us/T/AOPC/PublicAccessPolicy.htm.

 The text of the proposed amendments is set forth as follows. Additions are shown in bold; deletions are in bold and brackets.

 Interested persons should submit suggestions, comments, or objections concerning this proposal to:

Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts
ATTN: Public Access Comments
1515 Market Street, Suite 1414
Philadelphia, PA 19102
[e-mail]

no later than March 5, 2012.

ZYGMONT A. PINES, 
Court Administrator of Pennsylvania

Annex A

TITLE 204. JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS

PART VII. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA COURTS

CHAPTER 213. COURT RECORDS POLICIES

Subchapter C. ELECTRONIC CASE RECORD PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY OF THE UNIFIED JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF PENNSYLVANIA

§ 213.71. Definitions.

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 (c) ''Electronic Case Record'' means information or data created, collected, received, produced or maintained by a court or office in connection with a particular case that exists in the PACMS, CPCMS, or MDJS and that appears on web docket sheets or is provided in response to bulk distribution requests, regardless of format. This definition does not include images of documents filed with, received, produced or maintained by a court or office which are stored in PACMS, CPCMS or MDJS.

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Commentary—2012

 The definition of ''electronic case records'' was amended to exclude images of documents filed with, received, produced or maintained by a court or office which are stored in PACMS, CPCMS or MDJS.

§ 213.73. Electronic Case Record Information Excluded from Public Access.

 The following information in an electronic case record is not accessible by the public:

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 (6) a party's street address except the city, state, and ZIP code may be released[;]. This provision is not applicable to web docket sheets concerning civil and landlord tenant cases filed and maintained in the magisterial district courts;

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2012 Commentary

 Since the policy was implemented in 2007, concerns have surfaced regarding the restriction on the release of a party's street address. Address information often assists reviewers of court records in distinguishing individuals with similar names. In some cases, such as civil and landlord tenant matters filed in a magisterial district court, the only party identifier that is collected by the court which can be used to distinguish individuals is address information. Dates of birth or other identifying information is not collected.

 While providing city, state, and ZIP code information is helpful in some cases, this information is inadequate when a party with a common name lives in a densely populated area. This inability to match the right person with the right case information has hampered efforts to release public web docket sheets for these cases filed in the magisterial district courts. To post such docket sheets on the Internet without providing the reviewer with information to distinguish one party from another would be imprudent.

 The federal judiciary has instituted a tiered approach with regard to the release of address information. Specifically, access to home addresses in criminal cases is restricted to city and state only while access to home addresses in civil cases is unrestricted. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 49.1(a)(5) and Fed.R.Civ.P. 5.2.

 Moreover, the personal safety and privacy concerns with releasing a party's full address typically have surfaced when the information has been released in bulk. Thus, providing full address information on the public web docket sheets for these civil and landlord tenant matters is an appropriate and measured response to the concerns raised.

 Requests for bulk distribution of party address information in civil and landlord tenant matters filed in the magisterial district courts will continue to be governed by the provisions of Section 3.10(B).

§ 213.74. Requests for Bulk Distribution of Electronic Case Records.

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 (b) A request for bulk distribution of electronic case records not publicly accessible under § 213.73 of this Policy may be fulfilled where: the information released does not identify specific individuals; the release of the information will not present a risk to personal security or privacy; and the information is being requested for a scholarly, journalistic, governmental-related, research or case preparation purpose.

 (1) Requests of this type will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

 (2) In addition to the request form, the requestor shall submit in writing:

 (i) the purpose/reason for the request;

 (ii) identification of the information sought;

 (iii) explanation of the steps that the requestor will take to ensure that the information provided will be secure and protected; [and]

 (iv) certification that the information will not be used except for the stated purposes[.]; and

 (e) whether IRB approval has been received, if applicable.

2012 Commentary

 An Institutional Review Board (''IRB'') is a group of individuals that has been designated to review and monitor research involving human subjects. An IRB will typically set forth requirements for research projects, such as where the information is to be kept, who has access, how the information is codified, and what information is needed for matching purposes. If there is IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval documentation setting forth the information required under Subsection B2, such documentation may be sufficient to satisfying the ''writing'' requirement of this subsection.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 12-179. Filed for public inspection February 3, 2012, 9:00 a.m.]