AccessNorthwest



		Oct. 27, 2004 AccessNorthwest study shows access to court records varies by county in Washington state PULLMAN, WASH. – Access to court records in Washington state, including the cost of photocopies and online availability, varies widely from county to county, according to a study conducted by AccessNorthwest, a research group within the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University. A 25-page document might cost a reporter $2.50 in one county but $25 in a neighboring county, and it can take up to three days to get a copy of a court record in some counties. The survey of all 39 county clerks in the state was conducted on the eve of a significant expansion in public access to court records as the state Supreme Court allowed county clerks to begin providing the public and press online access to court documents. On Oct. 6, the Court adopted General Rule 31. Several counties have started providing Internet access to court records, and according to the study about two-thirds of the clerks plan to provide information online within a year. The study, however, indicates that access already varies by county and could continue to do so: About two-thirds of the counties scan their court documents and store them electronically. Only a few counties currently provide the public court documents online, but two-thirds said they hope to do so within the next year. Some counties say funding, technical limitations, and concerns over privacy issues present barriers to online access. The cost for making unofficial photocopies of court records ranges from 10 cents a page in two counties to $1 per page in 21 counties. Search fees for large records requests, such as those initiated by genealogists, can vary from free to $20 per hour. While counties are allowed by law to charge up to $20 per hour, five counties charge less and two charge nothing. The turnaround time for making records available to the public once requests are filed ranges from immediately in seven counties to three days in six counties. The state’s 39 county clerks were surveyed by telephone from June 13 to Sept. 13 by AccessNorthwest, a nonpartisan research group in the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University. “Online access to court documents in Washington promises to increase the ability of average citizens to obtain official information about important legal issues that affect their lives,” said Susan Dente Ross, executive director of AccessNorthwest. “We remain concerned, though, that high access fees far exceed the real costs of making public information available to residents. Differences in fees and response policies seem to privilege some users and to undermine the promise of online access for citizens.” Different interpretations of state law, court rule and court cases by clerks appears to be a source of varying records dissemination policies. County clerks have asked the Legislature for the past two years to lower photocopying fees without success. This coming session the clerks will try again, proposing a variety of fee adjustments, said Pam Daniels, Snohomish County clerk and director of legislations for the Washington State Association of County Clerks. “We have been striving to find consistency while honoring the uniqueness of each county,” Daniels said. The proposal for the upcoming session would lower the fee for uncertified copies from $1 per page to 50 cents per page. Counties could choose to charge less, as many do now, and those who provide public copiers also would continue to charge less. Also, the clerks association is proposing a fee of 25 cents per page for electronic documents printed directly from public terminals and a flat fee of $20 for any and all electronic documents copied to a compact disk, potentially saving requestors hundreds of dollars by avoiding per-page fees. In the meantime, Daniels said, the clerks will try to determine how to provide public access to court documents online. “We’ll look at what others are doing around the country and see what works and what doesn’t,” she said. “It is a work in progress.” Affordable online access to court records would help rural newspapers, said John Hanron, editor of the Methow Valley News in Twisp. Hanron’s paper is 40 miles from the Okanogan county seat, which makes access prohibitive. “I tend to get documents from attorneys instead of the courts,” Hanron said. If court documents were available online “I would be totally into that.” Hanron said the cost of electronic access will be key. Some county clerks have proposed a large upfront fee for bulk users, such as $1,000, with monthly subscription fees, for online access. That wouldn’t work for Hanron’s newspaper, he said. Hanron prefers fees be imposed by document, if at all. In another finding from the study, many county clerks were satisfied with their local newspaper, all of them rating the relationship as “good” or “very good.” While few provide special access for news reporters, many of the counties do provide lower copy fees and check-out privileges for attorneys and title companies. Indeed, the largest users of court documents, according to all of the clerks, are lawyers, title companies and the public. Few clerks mentioned the press as a large user of court documents, which confirms other studies that show media use of court documents is dwarfed by commercial and public users. The idea for the study came about in early 2004 at a meeting of the Washington Coalition for Open Government. Several members of the nonprofit organization expressed interest in knowing how access to court records varied county by county. Anecdotally, newspaper journalists had reported differing policies, particularly in copying fees and turnaround time. The survey was conducted by graduate student research assistant David Cuillier, a former newspaper journalist from Washington and Idaho, under the direction of Ross. The study was funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the National Freedom of Information Coalition. Established in 1950, the Knight Foundation supports journalism education and the arts. More detailed information regarding the study will be posted in January 2005. FOR MORE INFORMATION General Rule 31 (state Supreme Court) For more information about General Rule 31 regarding state court policy toward electronic access to court documents, see http://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/?fa=newsinfo.pressdetail&newsid=484 or http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/adopted/GR31.doc NFOIC and Knight Foundation For more information about the National Freedom of Information Coalition, see the nonprofit organization’s Web site at http://www.nfoic.org. For information about the Knight Foundation, http://www.knightfdn.org.