Top Stories
3 Va. Localities Pioneered Online Access To Court Records Their Storie
April 01, 2012 posted by Steve Brownstein
by Mark Bowes
Three Virginia localities have opted to go their own way when it comes to managing their court records and making case information available online.
The city of Alexandria developed its own system before the state did, but didn't make online information available until 2003, said Clerk Edward Semonian Jr.
Demand for online access is increasing, he said.
Basic criminal and civil information can be accessed without charge, but land records require a paid subscription, as designated by state law.
"It's certainly more convenient to be able to use (the online system) rather than come into the office — we're in Northern Virginia, where congestion is pretty substantial," Semonian said. "I get emails from all over the place from people looking for information, and they access the system."
The Virginia Beach Circuit Court clerk's office used the state's system until developing its own and switching over in July 2009.
Users can get basic criminal information such as court dates, charges filed and a finding of guilt or innocence of a defendant, but not sentencing information, said Gigi Smith, chief deputy clerk of the criminal division. Information on civil proceedings such as divorces and lawsuits also can be obtained, but not the corresponding documents for those actions, she said.
Any historical court information from before July 31, 2009, is still available through the state system, she said.
Smith said the clerk's office is working to provide actual documents online, such as court orders, but funding issues have temporarily halted that effort. That service will require a user fee.
The clerk's office has not received any substantive complaints about privacy concerns since the office transitioned to the new system, said Smith, who helped develop the project.
Fairfax County was the state's first locality to provide remote access, in the late 1980s, but that system was "very primitive" compared to today, said Fairfax Circuit Court Clerk John Frey.
The Virginia Supreme Court, he said, copied elements of Fairfax's case management system in developing Virginia's statewide system, Frey said.
Fairfax's existing system requires a monthly $50 subscription fee for unlimited access to criminal, civil and land records 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Frey said. "And they can make their own copies."
The criminal and civil information is limited to what Frey describes as a "register of action," which includes names of parties, their lawyers, court dates and case dispositions.
The court hasn't yet begun scanning individual court documents for public view, he said.
A total of 657 companies and 1,026 individuals pay to use Fairfax's system, and an additional 69 government agencies and 1,150 individual users within government entities can access the system without charge, Frey said.
Frey said he's not opposed in principal to allowing free access to some court information, but that would require a two-tiered system.
"I think the main purpose here is that we have not tried to make a distinction in our records that some records are more private than others, or more open than others," Frey said. "It's an administrative efficiency, whether that be right or wrong."
