Court Records

Press, Legislators, Other to Oppose Court Records Plan

       Representatives of the press, including the MDDC Press Association, will journey to Annapolis on the evening of Dec. 13 to speak out against a controversial draft policy by the Maryland judiciary that would severely restrict public access to court records.
      Among the provisions drawing opposition from the press are those that would:
      • Block electronic access to criminal convictions and other public court records once they are compiled in a computerized statewide file
     • Require persons seeking court information to identify themselves and tell why they want the information
     • Restrict disclosure of some records requests to 10 at a time
     • Give a court information officer authority to evaluate requests for access to currently public records and to decide whether access will be granted on the basis of several subjective factors such as "the potential for benefits to a governmental or other public purpose."
      In addition to drawing fire from newspapers and others in the media, the draft policy has sparked opposition from Maryland’s top legislative leaders, House Speaker Casper Taylor and Senate President Mike Miller, civil liberties group and several organizations representing users of such records.
      The draft policy was developed by a six-member ad hoc committee consisting of a Calvert County circuit judge, an assistant attorney general, two court clerks, the court information officer and a technical person from the judiciary’s information technology department. Impetus for the proposal was the group’s concern about privacy matters and about "unduly burdensome" information requests.
     Before the public hearing, the court information officer said the ad hoc committee plans to consider any changes to the draft after the hearing and then submit it to the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, for consideration by February or March.