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Minnesota Supremes ponder putting court records online
The Minnesota courts are poised to follow the lead of the federal judiciary by putting vast amounts of individual case records online.
This is welcome and long overdue, and will increase people's access to the courts by allowing them to view lawsuits, criminal complaints and other records over the internet.
Currently, you have to go to a Minnesota courthouse to see these documents, and often have to pay $10 or more per document to get a printout.
On Tuesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court's seven justices held a hearing on the digital records plan.
It seems that every government records issue that I encounter these days brings up the never-resolved conflict protecting privacy versus ensuring accountability through access.
Those were the considerations for the proposal for four levels of records access, as described by Hennepin District Chief Judge Peter Cahill.
1. Child in need of protective services (CHIPS) petitions, juvenile delinquency records: No online access, available at courthouse only.
2. Civil commitment cases: Only case history available online, records available at courthouse.
3. Family and paternity cases (post-adjudication): Case history and court-generated records available online, filings from parties at courthouse.
4. Civil records, post-conviction criminal records: Case history and records available online.
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