Public Notice Detail

By Kyle Christopherson

Court Information Office

The Supreme Court released amendments to the Rules of Public Access to Records of the Judicial Branch on May 6.  The amendments, effective July 1, address access to both electronic and paper records.    

What’s Public?

·        Internet access will be limited to registers, calendars, indexes, judgment dockets, judgments, orders, notices and appellate opinions.

·        Calendars, including pre-conviction criminal cases, can be on the Internet if available in a non-searchable format (see What’s Not Public section below).

·        Internet access to pleadings will be allowed on a case-by-case basis if authorized by court order.

·        Appellate briefs will be available on the Internet provided appendices are redacted.

·        Juror qualification records in criminal cases will be available subject to a balancing of interests test.

What’s Not Public?

·        Restricted identifiers (SSN, EID, financial account numbers) for all case types will not be available on public access terminals or the Internet, and will not be available on paper if litigants follow correct procedure to protect such information.

·        Financial source documents (tax returns, wage stubs) for all case types will not be available on public access terminals or the Internet, and will not be available on paper if litigants follow correct procedure to protect such information.

·        Race data, except summary statistics, will not be available on public access terminals or the Internet, but some race data will be available on paper (e.g., description of a defendant contained in a criminal complaint).

·        Pre-conviction criminal records will not be published on the Internet unless reasonable efforts are made to prevent them from being electronically searched by defendant name. (A pre-conviction criminal record, including but not limited to motions, orders, and other documents in a case file, is a record for which there has been no conviction accepted and recorded by the court in the form of a plea, jury verdict, or court finding of guilty.)

A copy of the Court’s order, rules as promulgated showing the changes adopted, and revised tables for case, administrative and vital statistics records will all be available at http://www.courts.state.mn.us by the time the amendments become effective.