Records should be open, available

By Patricia Presley

Published: March 21, 2008

The reaction from citizens, judges, lawyers and the press to the new rule prohibiting view of court pleadings via the Internet has been as strident as any I've seen in 11 years as Oklahoma County District Court clerk.

Of great concern to me is the implication that the new rule was a response to privacy concerns held by court clerks. The perception has been given that court clerks were first to raise the issue and were united in their opinions. Those are not my recollections. I, for one, voiced reservations on the matter from the first time it was presented to the court clerks.

I first became aware that the state Supreme Court's administrative office was proposing a court privacy policy about two years ago, not long after our new court administrator came on board. The administrator formed a committee composed primarily of district court clerks to discuss the issue; the last meeting was in fall 2006. Final consensus was the adoption of Oklahoma federal court's mandate that lawyers not include personal identifiers such as Social Security and financial numbers in court documents.

There was broad agreement among clerks that the responsibility for information put into court pleadings lies solely with the person filing the document. It was agreed a user registration system be implemented as opposed to completely restricting the ability to view documents online. Last week's Supreme Court order came as a surprise to me and court clerks I have talked to.

I have advocated, and will always, for the state's Open Records Act. My response to the statement "the Court needs to protect personal information” is that court records have always been open and that any exception should be narrowly and carefully focused.

I am heartened to hear the Supreme Court will revisit the rule before its June 10 implementation. I am certain it will hear the concerns voiced by so many and take the measures it deems correct.

Presley has been Oklahoma County clerk since January 1997.

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