Supreme Court of Missouri
en banc

 
In re:
 
(1) Repeal of subdivision 20.01, entitled "Scope of Rule;" subdivision 20.04, entitled "The Missouri Courts Web Site;" and subdivision 20.05, entitled "Management of the Missouri Courts web Site," of Court Operating Rule 20, entitled "Open Meetings, Open Records and Communications," and in lieu thereof adoption of a new subdivision 20.01, entitled "Scope of Rule;" a new subdivision 20.04, entitled "The Missouri Courts Website;" and a new subdivision 20.05, entitled "Management of the Missouri Courts Website," of Court Operating Rule 20, entitled "Open Meetings, Open Records, and Communications."  
1. It is ordered that effective January 1, 2014, subdivision 20.01, subdivision 20.04, and subdivision 20.05 of Court Operating Rule 20 be and the same are hereby repealed and a new subdivision 20.01, a new subdivision 20.04, and a new subdivision 20.05 of Court Operating Rule 20 adopted in lieu thereof to read as follows:

 
COURT OPERATING RULE 20 OPEN MEETINGS, OPEN RECORDS, AND COMMUNICATIONS
 
COURT OPERATING RULE 20.01 SCOPE OF RULE
This Court Operating Rule 20 governs open meetings, open records, and communications from Missouri’s courts to the public, through the media, and through the courts’ website on the World Wide Web.
 
* * *
 
20.04 THE MISSOURI COURTS WEBSITE
 
(a) The office of state courts administrator’s information technology division shall establish and maintain a Missouri judicial presence on the Internet/World Wide Web by creating and maintaining a secure electronic environment that will permit all appellate courts and circuit courts in the state to develop and post to the Internet court-specific information.
 
(b) This Court, each district of the court of appeals, and each judicial circuit will have a presence on the Missouri Courts website, the opening page of which will be designed uniformly to designate the respective court as part of Missouri’s court system. The Web information about this Court, each district of the court of appeals and each judicial circuit shall include court locations, hours of operation, information about judges and other personnel, telephone numbers and other contact information, court rules, and other pertinent information about the court’s operations and services. As a general matter, information posted to the Internet about each court  
should include at least such information as is readily available when visiting the physical location of the court.
 
(c) If a judicial circuit chooses to maintain its own Web presence, the Missouri Courts website will link, electronically, to the circuit court’s website from that circuit court’s designated Web page on the unified Missouri Courts website. If a municipal court division in a judicial circuit maintains a Web presence, that circuit’s Web page may contain an electronic link to the municipal court division at the discretion of the circuit’s presiding judge.
 
(d) Content material shall not violate accepted standards of judicial and ethical conduct. Content that represents data extracted, manipulated, computed or otherwise derived from information collected as a result of case management or other automated court processing systems will be reviewed by the state judicial records committee. Reasonable efforts will be made to ensure that up-to-date information is presented on judicial Internet/Web locations. The chief judge of each district of the court of appeals and the presiding judge of each circuit should designate a person to forward necessary information to the webmaster to ensure the timeliness and accuracy of the information contained on the Missouri Courts website.
 
(e) The Missouri Courts website will contain current and accurate information regarding operations, services, programs and personnel of the office of the clerk of this Court; the office of state courts administrator; the board of law examiners; the office of chief disciplinary counsel; the fine collection center, and other offices and services within the judicial branch as designated by this Court.
 
(f) The Missouri Courts website will contain current and accurate information about the availability of the commission on retirement, removal and discipline.
 
(g) The Missouri Courts website will contain this Court’s rules, local rules of each district of the court of appeals, and any local court rules developed by each circuit court, as well as selected court forms that the website oversight committee believes may be of use to attorneys or those proceeding pro se. All court forms posted to the Missouri Courts website shall be subject to the approval of the state judicial records committee and the general counsel for this Court.
 
20.05 MANAGEMENT OF THE MISSOURI COURTS WEBSITE
 
(a) The Missouri Courts website oversight committee shall consist of three persons: the state courts administrator or designee, this Court’s communications counsel and the general counsel. The website oversight committee shall approve standards for the website developed by the website committee and shall oversee the operation, content, design and organization of the website. The website oversight committee shall be advised and assisted in its duties by the recommendations of the website committee and shall report directly to this Court. The website oversight committee shall resolve any conflicts that may arise about developing information for or publishing information to the Missouri Courts website.
 
(b) The Missouri Courts website committee shall consist of this Court’s communications counsel and other members that the website oversight committee shall designate. The website committee shall develop standards for the uniform appearance, operation and navigation of the website, subject to approval by the website oversight committee and processes, subject to approval by the website oversight committee.
 
(c) This Court’s communications counsel shall serve as the webmaster for the Missouri Courts website.

 
3. It is ordered that notice of this order be published in the Journal of The Missouri Bar.
 
4. It is ordered that this order be published in the South Western Reporter.
 
Day – to – Day

_____________________________
MARY R. RUSSELL
Chief Justice