Secrecy rules on records go 'too far,' some say
State secrecy rules on records go 'too far,' some say

By John Greiner

Published: March 13, 2008

State Supreme Court rules to restrict public access to court records online go too far and create more problems than they address, Oklahoma County Court Clerk Patricia Presley said Wednesday.

"First and foremost, I believe government records belong to the citizens and should be presumed open and available to the people for their inspection,” she said. "I must believe the Supreme Court holds this same belief.

"Having been in the court records management business nearly all my adult life, I must with the greatest respect say this new rule goes too far.”

Her comments came a day after the court ruled that many court records now easily accessed on the Internet will no longer be available online. The ruling also would severely restrict what information could be included in court records, which could make it difficult identifying to whom those records refer.

The ruling also would prohibit somebody who files a court document — such as an attorney — from including some personal information such as birth dates, Social Security numbers and home addresses. Taxpayer identification numbers, names of minors and financial account numbers also will be excluded.

Eventually, these rules might be loosened to allow pleadings to be on the Internet again, but not personal identifiers, Chief Justice James Winchester said Wednesday.

Winchester couldn't say when some additional information would be available online again. He said it will be after the court hires a director for its computer network and gets software that can automatically omit any personal identifiers that weren't previously omitted by attorneys when they filed cases.

Presley said she will be approaching the Supreme Court with her concerns about the rules. She thinks there are many less restrictive steps that could be taken.

She's never put victim's information, traffic offenses or jurors' information on the Internet, Presley said.

"I think the biggest concern I have is the number of people who have come to depend on having those documents on the Internet and which allowed them to view court records from their offices,” Presley said.

She said the court clerk's office will have more foot traffic under these rules and may have to get more employees to handle the requests for records.

Presley said she's not heard of any problems in Oklahoma County.

But Sally Howe Smith, court clerk in Tulsa County, said she knows of a problem that occurred a few years ago in Tulsa because of personal information on the Internet.

It involved a divorce and custody battle, she said.

The mother in the case had a misdemeanor offense, but it was erroneously recorded as a felony on online court records, explained the court clerk.

The husband saw that information and used it in court against his wife before the information could be corrected, Smith said.

Smith has no issues with the proposed rules.

"I am comfortable with them. I was not comfortable with the records being on the Internet,” she said.

Oklahoma and Tulsa counties' district attorneys said they had not read the rules but agree with keeping personal information off the Internet.

"People can find where police officers live,” Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said.

Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris said he agrees with Prater, adding that having that information in filings online can put families and witnesses at risk.

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