Civil Harrassement Restraining Order Filings; Non-Internet Accessible
Q: The County Superior Court maintains an “Open Access” internet database system for access to court records and filings, including dockets in all civil and criminal cases and downloads of all filed and imaged pleadings and other filed documents in civil cases — with one exception. All dockets and imaged documents are publicly inaccessible for all civil harassment restraining order filings. This results in a quasi secret docket system for these civil cases. Access to these civil dockets can only be made in person at the courthouse and only by asking a court clerk to search for specific party names — no general index or register of actions is available to the public for these cases. The court gives no reason for this, and it creates a significant barrier to access to these civil case records.
My question is simply: What can be done to remedy this secret docket system?
A: California Rules of Court No. 2.503 and 2.507, which address the public’s right of access to court records in electronic form, are both relevant to your inquiry. Links to both rules, in their entirety, are included below:
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/rules/index.cfm?title=two&linkid=rule2_503
http://courtinfo.ca.gov/rules/index.cfm?title=two&linkid=rule2_507
Rule 2.503 directly addresses records in a civil harassment proceeding. To the extent a court maintains records of such proceedings in electronic form, such electronic records may be made available to the public at the courthouse only. See Rule 2.503(c)(6). However, Rule 2.503(b)(1) provides that, to the extent feasible, a court must provide electronic access, both remotely and at the courthouse, to “[r]egistrars of actions … calendars, and indexes in all cases.” (emph. added). Thus, while the actual documents filed in civil harassment proceedings may not be made available for remote electronic viewing, the registrar of actions, calendars, and indexes for such cases must be made available for remote electronic viewing, to the extent it is feasible for the court to do so. Furthermore, there does not appear to be any basis for the barriers you are facing in accessing the dockets of these cases directly at the courthouse.
Rule 2.507 addresses what must be included and excluded from the electronically accessible versions of court calendars, indexes, and registers of actions.
My suggestion to you is to bring a copy of both of these rules to the court, and to ask to speak to a supervisor about why, in light of these rules, the registrars and indexes of civil harassment proceedings are not being made available for remote electronic viewing. It may be that once you point out these rules to the court, the appropriate changes in policy will be made.