Is searching for court records something hard to do?

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Data Mining Means Always Having to Say You're Sorry
Offenders who thought their records were sealed or expunged might want to think again, thanks to data mining. Criminal defense attorneys, privacy rights experts and civil rights lawyers say they're increasingly concerned that data mining companies are obtaining and posting criminal records that were supposed to be expunged from official records. But others say that, in the age of computerized data bases and the Internet, no one should have any expectation of privacy about their records. Source: Daily Business Review, June 30, 2006

New Rules Expand Public Access to Electronic Trial Court Records - Rules Balance Public Access and Privacy Interests

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. Read more

October 14th, 2005 - Starke County Court Records Now Available. Internet access to the court information of Starke County has become functionable, thus taking the Stark county to the growing community of cities and counties committed to serving the public interest by making information available via the Internet. In addition to Starke County, county court information for the neighboring Marshall County is also available. Starke County is the 25th county to join the network to provide access to over 3.9 million case records for 95 Indiana courts. Also available: Decatur County Circuit and Superior Courts records online access.

Archived

BERKELEY COUNTY COURT RECORDS Births 1865-1970; Deaths 1865-1970; Marriage Bonds 1797-1852; Marriage Records 1781-1858, *1864-1970; Wills 1772-1970; Estate Settlements/Inventories & Settlements 1861-1926; Administrators Bonds 1773-1847, 1873-1926; Executor's Bonds 1774-1847, 1865-1928; Orphans Bonds 1776-1808, 1816-1847, 1865-1873; Guardians Bonds 1873-1926; List of Fiduciaries 1865-1903; Misc. Historical Records 1772-1900; Discharges 1918; Deed Index 1772-1926; #Deeds 1772-1901; Bible Society Minute Book 1821-1831; Land Entry Book 1785-1852; Surveyors Book/Records 1785-1860, 1883-1900; Land Grants 1864-1878; Land Causes 1816-1829; Land Book 1907; Minute Book 1772-1871, 1881-1926; Order Book 1772-1786, 1792-1815, 1873-1907; Statement of Heirs of Decedents 1907-1929; Record of Personal Reps, Guardians & Committee 1840-1875; Record of Fiduciaries 1903-1927; Court Order Book 1865-1872, 1907-1927; Justice Docket, Court Orders 1875-1903; Affadavits of Fiduciaries 1903-1907; Minute Book of Poor House 1865; Register for Board of School Commissioners 1818-1846; Homestead Exemptions 1874-1943; Land Grants (Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, Frederick) 1771-1862; Unrecorded Deeds 1771-1881; Rerecorded Deeds 1792-1816, 1830-1838, 1842-1854, 1875-1901; List of Persons Census 1880; Law Order 1809-1847; Indexes to Law, Chancery & Execution 1831-1960; Chancery Order Books 1831-1926; Old Chancery Orders (loose, pre-Civil War); Naturalization Loose papers; Declarations of Intention 1908-1978; Petitions for Citizenship 1920-1958; Naturalization Orders 1930-1991; Naturalization Record 1904-1906; Petition and Record 1908-1929; Certificate of Naturalization 1911-1929; List of Naturalization Citizens 1940-1991.

GRANT COUNTY COURT RECORDS: Births 1865-1969; Index to Births 1865-1910; Delayed Births 1890-1960; Deaths 1865-1969; Marriages 1866-1969; Wills 1866-1969; Deeds 1865-1908; Deed Index 1865-1969; Fiduciary Records 1866-1929; Estate Settlements & Appraisements 1866-1882, 1886-1913; Accounts of Fiduciaries 1863-1933; Fiduciaries County Court 1866-1904; Bonds 1880-1931; Discharges 1917-1919; Order Book 1866-1926; Chancery Orders 1866-1929;

West Virginia State Archives County Court Records Microfilm Holdings

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Formal opinion of Gale A. Norton, Colorado Attorney General, concerning the release of criminal justice records containing the names of sexual assault victims. The Criminal Justice Records Act requires deletion of victims' names only when a record is released to a member of the general public. Release to parties in interest or their counsel and to criminal justice agencies is not a release to the public within the meaning of the Act and the Act permits release to them without deletion of victims' names. Section 24-72-306(1), C.R.S. provides that Criminal justice agencies may assess reasonable fees, not to exceed actual costs, including personnel and equipment for the search, retrieval, and copying of criminal justice records. Under this section, an agency may charge a fee for all aspects of producing a record pursuant to a request for that record. When a record is produced for a member of the public, reviewing the record and deleting victims' names is a necessary part of the searching and retrieving process. Therefore, a fee may be charged for such deletions under this section of the Criminal Justice Records Act.

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Final Report on Guidelines for Public - Access to Court Records Now Available

Williamsburg , VA (Nov. 13, 2005) – The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Justice Management Institute (JMI) recently completed the final report on Public Access to Court Records: Implementing the CCJ/COSCA Guidelines, now available online. This report follows an initial set of Guidelines, which were endorsed by the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) in August 2002, and released in October 2002. Those Guidelines serve as a blueprint for state courts to refer as they develop their policies governing access to court records. The current report tracks the work that has since taken place. It provides additional language, discussion, and exemplars that address three distinct areas addressed in the 2002 Guidelines: * Materials for educating litigants and the public; * Expanded considerations of the challenges of access to family court records; * Considerations of internal court policies and procedures. The NCSC and JMI have been working for more than 5 years to address concerns and to find solutions to help state courts reach the delicate balance between ensuring privacy while providing public access to court records. To develop the Guidelines, the NCSC and JMI, with funding by the State Justice Institute, formed an Advisory Committee made up of representatives from the courts, the media and advocacy groups. A public comment period also was included in the process.

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