Speakers:
Gypsy Bailey, Staff Counsel, Leon County Clerk’s Office
Katie Glynn, Staff Counsel, Marion County Clerk’s Office
THE BIG PICTURE OF THE ELECTRONIC WORLD
 Goals
Create a fully electronic court system to increase efficiency and lower costs for
all involved – example is the Manatee model
Provide the public with electronic access to non-confidential court records – FSC
approved project in Manatee regarding online records
Necessary Steps
Transition from permissive efiling to mandatory efiling for attorneys
Transition from attorney-only use of eportal to public use of e-portal
Transition from postal service to electronic service of court records
Reduce the amount of extraneous personal information in court records
Transition from limited access of court records on the Internet to broad access
for the public
And for Clerks, insure that confidentiality requirements are met along the way!
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DEFINITIONS
 Confidential
 Court Records
 Public Records
 Redaction
 Sensitive Documents
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CLERK CONFIDENTIALITY
 Rule 2.420, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration - Public Access to Judicial
Branch Records
 Rule 2.425, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration - Minimization of the Filing of
Sensitive Information
 Rule 2.525, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration - Electronic Filing (see also
Rules 2.515, signatures of attorneys and parties); 2.516, service; and 2.520,
documents)
 Florida Statutes
FS 28.2221 – clerk may not place image or copy of public or official website on
public website if it is one of the following types: Military discharge; death
certificate; court files, records, or papers relating to matters or cases governed
by the Rules of Family Law, Rules of Juvenile Procedure, or Probate Rules.
Chapter 119 – Public Records
FS 668.50 – electronic commerce, esignatures
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CLERK CONFIDENTIALITY (CON’T)
 Florida Supreme Court orders
AOSC03-49 ("effective immediately and until further order of this Court, no court
record as defined by Rule of Judicial Administration 2.051(b)(1)(a) shall be released in
any electronic form by a Florida Clerk of Court except as provided herein.“)
AOSC04-04 (withdrew AOSC03-49, provided exceptions to the “no release” restriction
AOSC06-21 (allowed docket information to be released electronically, including final
orders and judgments, as long as no confidential information was released)
AOSC07-49 (clarified that “traffic court records” meant civil traffic; permitted
electronic release of full DOB of defendant’s in criminal cases); and permitted clerks
to provide attorneys with remote electronic access to records in which the entire court
file is not confidential)
AOSC09-30 (provided statewide standards for electronic access to the courts)
AOSC10-17 (provided standards for electronic recordkeeping systems)
For others, see http://www.flcourts.org/gen_public/technology/statutesRules.shtml
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CLERK CONFIDENTIALITY (CON’T)
 Local Administrative Orders and court orders
 Federal laws – Driver License Protection Act (FS 119.0712(2))
 Clerk Access to Agency Databases
DHSMV – requires MOU, employees briefed on confidentiality requirements,
criminal and civil penalties, procedures Clerks must comply with
 How interpretation of the laws may in different Clerk practices
Chapter 119 permits LEO to request removal of their/family names and
addresses from records; some Clerks read Rule 2.420 as “trumping” this chapter
and require the filing of motions
 Changes in the law
As of 01/01/12, paper requests to remove SSN, credit, debit, and bank card #s
are no longer required and Clerk must insure these are not released
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CLERK RESPONSIBILITIES
 Ministerial – assist those who represent themselves but no providing legal
assistance
 Do these duties change in the electronic vs. paper world?
Draft Best Practice recommends how to define case and sub types, and
document groups, on the portal
Critical that IT and court personnel work in tandem
 Notice of Confidentiality of Information in a Court Filing
 Motion to Determine Confidentiality of Records
 Civil vs. criminal duties under Rule 2.420
 Clerk policies/procedures
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TYPES OF RECORDS
 Paper
 Electronic
Data
Subscription v. Public
Reports
“Bulk”
Filings – efilings, eservice
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UNIQUE ISSUES
 Ex Parte motions in Marion
 Notices of Confidentiality that need better specificity - Marion
 Chapter 119 issues like “criminal investigative information” and “confession” Leon
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QUESTIONS
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Gypsy Bailey
Katie Glynn
Staff Counsel/Director of Courts
Staff Counsel
Leon County Clerk’s Office
Marion County Clerk’s Office
PO Box 726
PO Box 1030
Tallahassee, FL 32302-0726
Ocala, FL 34478-1030
(850) 577-4011
(352) 671-5603
Gbailey@leoncountyfl.gov
Kglynn@marioncountyclerk.org
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