THE COURTS

Title 255—LOCAL COURT RULES

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Public Access to Case Records in the Court of Common Pleas; No. 2021-1

[52 Pa.B. 16]
[Saturday, January 1, 2022]

Order

 And Now, this 14th day of December, 2021, it is hereby Ordered, Adjudged, and Decreed that Washington County Local Rules of Judicial Administration 3000 and 3001 shall be amended. The amendments to these rules shall be effect 30 days after the date of publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. As the amendments to the statewide Case Records Public Access Policy become effective January 3, 2020, the Court finds that interim action pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. 103 (Comment) is necessary and appropriate. Therefore, the amended provisions of the local rule concerning the use of Confidential Information Forms for the filing of legal papers and pleadings in the Court of Common Pleas is required effective January 3, 2022. Filers shall no longer submit such documents for filing in either ''Redacted'' or ''Unredacted'' versions.

 This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. 103. The District Court Administrator is directed to do the following:

 1. Publish the local rules on the Court's website to be incorporated into the set of local rules on the website within 30 days after the publication of the local rules in Pennsylvania Bulletin.

 2. File one (1) copy of the local rules in the appropriate filing offices for public inspection and copying.

 3. Cause a copy hereof to be published in the Washington County Bar Journal once a week for two successive weeks at the expense of the County of Washington.

By the Court

JOHN F. DiSALLE, 
President Judge

RULE OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
ACCESS TO CASE RECORDS

Rule 3000. Public Access Policy. Case Records. Court of Common Pleas.

 (a) Scope. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has adopted a policy governing public access to Unified Judicial System case records, entitled Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. The policy may be accessed at www.pacourts.us, www.washingtoncourt.us, in the office of the District Court Administrator, and in the office of the applicable custodian.

 (b) Confidential Information. Pursuant to Sections 7.0 and 8.0 of the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, persons who file a pleading, exhibit, or other document that contains confidential information as defined by the policy shall utilize and file with the applicable custodian a confidential information form (''CIF'') or a confidential document form (''CDF''), as applicable, in order to comply with the Policy. Parties are expressly prohibited from filing two versions of any pleading, exhibit, or other document, i.e., a redacted version and an unredacted version.

 (c) Certification of Compliance. A party, or their attorney, shall attach a certification to each filing to attest to their compliance with this policy. The certification shall be substantially in the following form:

 I certify that this filing complies with the provisions of the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania that require filing confidential information and documents differently than non-confidential information and documents.

Date: ____________   Signature: ____________
                 (Name)

 (d) Fee Schedule. Unless otherwise provided by applicable authority, the fees for duplication by photocopying, or printing from electronic media or microfilm, shall not exceed $0.25 per page. The custodian of the case record may institute a reasonable surcharge beyond the per page fee for records that are produced by request on a disc or other storage media.

 (1) The Court shall approve the fee schedule for any custodian pursuant to the Policy by administrative order.

 (2) The custodian shall post the approved fee schedule in an area accessible to the public in his or her office and at www.washingtoncourts.us.

Rule 3001. Public Access of Official Case Records in the Magisterial District Courts.

 (1) Unless otherwise provided by applicable authority, the fees for duplication by photocopying or an alternative method shall not exceed $0.25 per page.

 (2) The magisterial district court shall remit all fees collected pursuant to this rule to the County of Washington.

 (3) The magisterial district court may waive the fees if it determines that the requestor is indigent.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 22-10. Filed for public inspection December 30, 2021, 9:00 a.m.]

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