THE COURTS
Title 204—JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS
PART VII. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA COURTS
[ 204 PA. CODE CH. 213 ]
Electronic Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
[42 Pa.B. 7520]
[Saturday, December 15, 2012]In accordance with the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 4301(b), the following amendments to the Electronic Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania have been approved by the Supreme Court and shall be effective January 1, 2013. The changes to the policy are shown in bold; deletions are shown in bold and brackets.
The entire policy, including these amendments and other related information can be found on the Unified Judicial System's public access webpage located at http://www.pacourts.us.
Filed in the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts on November 26, 2012.
ZYGMONT A. PINES,
Court Administrator of Pennsylvania
Annex A
TITLE 204. JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS
PART VII. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA COURTS
CHAPTER 213. COURT RECORDS POLICIES
Subchapter C. ELECTRONIC CASE RECORD PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY OF THE UNIFIED JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF PENNSYLVANIA § 213.71. Definitions.
(a) ''CPCMS'' means the Common Pleas Criminal Court Case Management System.
(b) ''Custodian'' is the person, or designee, responsible for the safekeeping of electronic case records held by any court or office and for processing public requests for access to electronic case records.
(c) ''Electronic Case Record'' means information or data created, collected, received, produced or maintained by a court or office in connection with a particular case that exists in the PACMS, CPCMS, or MDJS and that appears on web docket sheets or is provided in response to bulk distribution requests, regardless of format. This definition does not include images of documents filed with, received, produced or maintained by a court or office which are stored in PACMS, CPCMS or MDJS and any other automated system maintained by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
(d) ''MDJS'' means the Magisterial District Judge Automated System.
(e) ''Office'' is any entity that is using one of the following automated systems: Pennsylvania Appellate Court Case Management System (PACMS); Common Pleas Criminal Court Case Management System (CPCMS); or Magisterial District Judge Automated System (MDJS).
(f) ''PACMS'' means the Pennsylvania Appellate Court Case Management System.
(g) ''Party'' means one by or against whom a civil or criminal action is brought.
(h) ''Public'' includes any person, business, non-profit entity, organization or association.
(1) ''Public'' does not include:
(i) Unified Judicial System officials or employees, including employees of the office of the clerk of courts, prothonotary, and any other office performing similar functions;
(ii) people or entities, private or governmental, who assist the Unified Judicial System or related offices in providing court services; and
(iii) any federal, state, or local governmental agency or an employee or official of such an agency when acting in his/her official capacity.
(i) ''Public Access'' means that the public may inspect and obtain electronic case records, except as provided by law or as set forth in this policy.
(j) ''Request for Bulk Distribution of Electronic Case Records'' means any request, regardless of the format the information is requested to be received in, for all or a subset of electronic case records.
(k) ''UJS'' means the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania.
(l) ''Web Docket Sheets'' are internet available representations of data that have been entered into a Unified Judicial System supported case management system for the purpose of recording filings, subsequent actions and events on a court case, and miscellaneous docketed items.
2013 Commentary The definition of ''electronic case records'' was amended to exclude images of documents filed with, received, produced or maintained by a court or office which are stored in PACMS, CPCMS or MDJS and any other automated system maintained by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
While the Judiciary is presently piloting, on a limited basis, e-filing in the statewide case management systems, design and development efforts have not advanced to allow for online publication or bulk dissemination of images of e-filed documents.
§ 213.74. Requests for Bulk Distribution of Electronic Case Records.
(a) A request for bulk distribution of electronic case records shall be permitted for data that is not excluded from public access as set forth in this policy.
(b) A request for bulk distribution of electronic case records not publicly accessible under § 213.73 of this Policy may be fulfilled where: the information released does not identify specific individuals; the release of the information will not present a risk to personal security or privacy; and the information is being requested for a scholarly, journalistic, governmental-related, research or case preparation purpose.
(1) Requests of this type will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
(2) In addition to the request form, the requestor shall submit in writing:
(i) the purpose/reason for the request;
(ii) identification of the information sought;
(iii) explanation of the steps that the requestor will take to ensure that the information provided will be secure and protected; [and]
(iv) certification that the information will not be used except for the stated purposes[.]; and
(v) whether IRB approval has been received, if applicable.
2013 Commentary An Institutional Review Board (''IRB'') ascertains the acceptability of and monitors research involving human subjects. An IRB will typically set forth requirements for research projects, such as where the information is to be kept, who has access, how the information is codified, and what information is needed for matching purposes. If there is IRB approval documentation setting forth the information required under Subsection B(2), such documentation may be sufficient to satisfy the ''writing'' requirement of this subsection.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 12-2418. Filed for public inspection December 14, 2012, 9:00 a.m.]
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