COURT OPERATING RULE 2.02 GENERAL POLICY

Records of all courts are presumed to be open to any member of the public for purposes of inspection or copying during the regular business hours of the court having custody of the records. This policy does not apply to records that are confidential pursuant to statute, court rules, or court order; judicial or judicial staff work product; internal electronic mail; memoranda or drafts; or appellate judicial case assignments.

Records, information and services shall be provided at a time and in a manner that does not interfere with the regular business of the courts.

The clerk of court is not required to review the case document to confirm that the party has omitted personal information and shall not refuse to accept or file the document on that basis.

The responsibility for any mandatory redaction of personal information rests solely with counsel, the parties, or any other person filing the document. 

On and after the Expanded Remote Access Implementation Date:

(a) Any redacted information shall be referenced by generic description in the redacted document (e.g., Spouse's SSN, victim's name, child 1's DOB). Any redacted information shall be provided to the court and the parties in a redacted information filing sheet within 10 days of the redacted document being accepted by the court.

(b) All filers shall affirmatively certify compliance with the redaction requirements of this Court Operating Rule when a document is filed. This certification shall be accomplished through an automated process implemented in the electronic filing system for its authorized users or, for filers who are not authorized users of the electronic filing system, by a paper form attached to the document or on the document itself.

Access to any Missouri judicial website, including but not limited to Case.net, by a site data scraper or any similar software intended to discover and extract data from a website through automated, repetitive querying for the purpose of collecting such data is expressly prohibited.

COR 2 imposes no obligation upon the judiciary to create a data element, make a data element available electronically, or produce non-standard reports. 

COURT OPERATING RULE 2.03 DEFINITIONS

As used in this COR 2, the following terms mean:

(a) "Administrative records," all records, including reports and correspondence, pertaining to the administration of the courts;

(b) "Bulk distribution," the distribution of all, or a significant subset, of the information in court records, as is and without modification or compilation;

(c) "Case records," all records relating to a specific case or controversy;

(d) "Custodian of records," the person designated by the appointing authority as responsible for the safekeeping of any records held in the clerk's office;

(e) "Compiled information," information that is derived from the selection, aggregation or reformulation by the court of some of the information from more than one individual court record, including statistical reports and information that is not already available in an existing record or report;

(f) "Data element," information contained in a field in the computer database;

(g) "Electronic records," digital records, whether created by data entry, electronic filing, or digital imaging; 

(h) "Person," any individual, non-profit or profit corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other type of business organization;

(i) "Personnel records," all records relating to the employment of persons within the judiciary with the exception of name, position, and salary;

(j) "Public" includes:

(1) Any person and any business or non-profit entity, organization, or association;

(2) Any governmental agency for which there is no existing policy defining the agency's access to court records;

(3) Media organizations; and

(4) Entities that gather and disseminate information for whatever reason, regardless of whether it is done with the intent of making a profit, and without distinction as to nature or extent of access.

(k) "Public access" means that the public may inspect and obtain a copy of the information in a court record either by direct access in the court house or remote access over the Internet if and when it becomes available.

(l) "Record," information produced or available to the court regardless of physical form or storage medium used.

(m) "Expanded Remote Access Implementation Date," a date set by order of this Court made and entered no less than six months in advance of such date.

(b) Internet access to electronic records that are public and from which a person can be identified will include only the following data elements, if not confidential by statute or rule: 

Civil Cases

(1) Attorneys' addresses; 

(2) Attorneys' names; 

(3) Calendar dates; 

(4) Case number; 

(5) Case type; 

(6) Year of birth; 

(7) Disposition type; 

(8) Docket entries; 

(9) File date; 

(10) General execution, garnishment, and sequestration information as provided in COR 4.19.1 and indexing number if available;

(11) Trial judge currently assigned;

(12) Trial judge at disposition; 

(13) Judgment or appellate decision; 

(14) Judgment or appellate mandate date; 

(15) Party address; 

(16) Party name and type, except the names of victims of domestic violence shall not be available pursuant to 18 USC 2265(d)(3); and 

(17) Satisfaction of judgment date.

Cases filed under chapter 455, RSMo, (adult and child protection orders) shall be available only by entering the exact case number until a full order of protection shall have been granted. Thereafter, the case shall be available in accordance with COR 2.04(a) and COR 2.04(b).

Criminal Cases

(1) Appellate mandate date; 

(2) Appellate opinion; 

(3) Attorneys' addresses; 

(4) Attorneys' names; 

(5) Bail amount; 

(6) Calendar dates; 

(7) Case number; 

(8) Case type; 

(9) Pending charges; 

(10) Year of birth; 

(11) Defendant address; 

(12) Defendant name; 

(13) Disposition type; 

(14) Docket entries; 

(15) File date; 

(16) Finding and finding date; 

(17) Judgment and judgment date; 

(18) Sentence and sentence date and offenses for which sentenced;

(19) Trial judge currently assigned; 

(20) Trial judge at disposition; 

(21) Law enforcement agency; 

(22) Offense tracking number; 

(23) Violation code, date, and description; and

(24) Suspended imposition of sentence prior to successful completion of probation.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, upon initial filing of a criminal case, a prosecuting attorney may request a court to temporarily remove the case from Internet access if:

(1) A warrant has been requested; and 

(2) There is believed to be a high risk of physical injury to officers or other persons if the defendant should become aware of the issuance of the warrant. 

Such removal will be for a period of five calendar days from the date the case is filed or until the warrant is executed, whichever occurs first.

Financial Information 

(1) Balance due;

(2) Payment plan number;

(3) Payment plan balance due;

(4) Payment plan schedule due date;

(5) Payment plan schedule amount due;

(6) Open items account ID;

(7) Open items account balance; and

(8) Bond balance.

(c) The following public documents filed before the Expanded Remote Access Implementation Date may be made remotely accessible to the public if available in an electronic format:

(1) Liens on real estate pursuant to chapter 429, RSMo, during the time they are enforceable as liens;

(2) Final civil judgments, except:

(A) Post-conviction proceedings,

(B) Domestic relations proceedings including, but not limited to, dissolution proceedings, paternity proceedings, and modifications thereof; and

(3) Probate orders and decrees serving as judgments. 

The remote accessibility of the material provided by this Court Operating Rule 2.04(c) shall not occur if it is contrary to an order in a particular case, a statute, or a court rule.

(d) All public documents filed on or after the Expanded Remote Access Implementation Date that are available at a public access terminal shall be available remotely on a schedule approved by the Missouri Court Automation Committee. This remote access shall not occur if it is contrary to an order in a particular case, a statute, or a court rule. This remote access may be temporarily suspended at any time the State Courts Administrator determines that the public demand for documents adversely impacts in any manner the statewide court automation system or court operations. The State Courts Administrator shall notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court and the Court when temporary suspension occurs. Any suspension shall remain in effect until the State Courts Administrator determines that such adverse impact has been appropriately addressed and resolved.

(e) Access to case records as provided by this Court Operating Rule 2.04 shall not be restricted in anticipation of a jury trial without a court order setting forth specific written findings supporting a compelling justification to restrict access.

Day – to – Day

___________________________

GEORGE W DRAPER III

Chief Justice