Court records go green (2/1/05)

Jay County court officials are seeing green.

As of Jan. 1, court documents that include Social Security, bank account, pin and credit card numbers and names and addresses of crime victims or witnesses will be printed on green paper and kept confidential.

This state rule, called Administrative Rule 9 Privacy and Public Access to Court Records, was adopted by the Indiana Supreme Court.

“(The rule) is not meant to keep anything from the public. The intent was to protect people and their identities,” Jay County clerk Jane Ann Runyon said last week. “It is not something that is insurmountable. (Employees in the clerk’s office will) catch onto it, and the attorneys will catch onto it.”

Runyon was part of a 30-member advisory committee that reviewed the proposed rule several times a month for more than six months in 2003 in Indianapolis. The committee, made up of members of the media, victim advocacy groups, the Indiana Attorney General’s office, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, judges, private attorneys and county clerks, developed a system which removes the confidential information from the public eye and places it in a confidential envelope or folder in the case file.

“So that the information is there for the judges and the people who need it but not for the media or the general public,” Runyon said.

In the prosecutor’s office, subpoenas and arrest warrants will now be issued on green paper.

“It slows us down a little bit,” Jay Prosecutor’s office investigator Curt Compton said last week. “It is just a matter of time to get used to it.”

Compton said most police reports and driving records also include the now confidential information and will also be filed on green paper.

“It will probably mean more time for the clerk’s office (employees),” Compton said. “We’re protecting people. That is what it’s all about.”

Green paper is also making its way into the courtrooms.

“We are starting to see a lot more green (paper),” Jay Superior Court Judge Joel Roberts said Monday. “We are having to review our pleadings and orders more carefully to try to not include the (confidential) information ... Theoretically the burden should rely on the people filing (the civil or criminal cases.) We are keeping an eye on that.”

Besides the change to green paper, the public terminal computers in the clerk’s office were upgraded to remove access to the now confidential information.

Runyon also said the new rule is a first step by the state to make court records Internet accessible. State officials entered into a contract with New York-based Computer Associates. The company was hired to build the computer system to run this project.

“It is a big project. Every court will be linked to the State Court Administration,” Runyon said, adding that court officials will be able to read court documents from other counties around the state. “When that system gets up and running things will be Internet accessible. Now (Jay County) court records are available by subscription.”

To fund the project, clerk’s offices across the state have been collecting $7 from every filing fee, Runyon said.[[In-content Ad]]