It happened overnight.
One afternoon, attorney Carolyn Wagner was able to instantly access Duval County court records online; the next morning, some of those records were no longer available.
“I am on a case and all of a sudden I can’t pull up a file I previously had access to because confidential information hadn’t been redacted yet,” Wagner said.
A legal veteran whose general practice includes family law, Wagner wasn’t — and still isn’t — alone.
As of July 3, Duval County’s 3,600 or so attorneys, their designated staffers and others in private, law-related fields no longer can view online records until they are vetted by Clerk of Court’s office personnel.
What’s happening is the culmination of an effort that began in 2004 to develop technology and policies the Florida Supreme Court deems necessary to shield sensitive personal information — like Social Security numbers, medical information and juveniles’ names — from the public.
Duval County Clerk of Court officials say since implementing changes July 3, the clerk’s office had reviewed about 24,500 of 28,000 online records requests and that a request backlog has resulted.
Among other drawbacks for lawyers, not being able to instantaneously access records makes it difficult to perform the research necessary to determine whether to take on prospective clients’ cases.
“We can’t even look at our own case files,” Wagner complained.
Instead, Wagner and others must either visit the courthouse or file an online information request, which triggers a state-mandated clerks office confidentiality review that sometimes takes several days, at least.
The records in question include felony, misdemeanor, traffic and civil court records not sealed, expunged or otherwise deemed confidential by law or court order.
“There are a lot of people saying, ‘I don’t need the information, anymore. I needed it when I asked for it and now four days have passed, six days have passed,’” said Hank Coxe, former president of The Jacksonville Bar Association and The Florida Bar.
After banning clerks of court from providing records online in 2004 due to concerns about confidentiality of certain information, the Supreme Court began allowing attorneys remote access to electronic documents in 2006.
Years of study led to the Supreme Court’s establishment of a tiered system of access to records. Last year, the court began ironing out details enabling the public to have electronic access to records similar to that provided to attorneys.
This year, the court began allowing clerks to start pilot programs that demonstrate they have adequate confidentiality safeguards in place. After 90 days, the State Courts Technology Commission reviews the local online systems for final approval.
Duval Clerk of Court Ronnie Fussell said while many attorneys are frustrated with the county’s pilot program, many have offered constructive advice that is helping with the transition.
“We will get through it,” Fussell assured an overflow crowd of about 600 people — mostly lawyers — in an informational meeting Wednesday at the Duval County Courthouse.
Because all of the jury assembly room seats were taken, some attendees watched from a video monitor in a nearby room.
“This is a very serious issue and I think that’s shown by the number of people who have come and shown an interest,” said 4th Circuit Chief Judge Mark Mahon.
Krystal Watson, Fussell’s chief administrative officer, assured the audience the wait time to view online records is steadily decreasing. About half of Florida’s counties don’t put court records online — and aren’t required to, she reminded the audience.
“Duval County has really spoiled you guys,” Watson said. “You had access to information that really statutorily never should’ve been there. It was the system that Clerk Fussell inherited.”
Also, unlike federal courts, which have been allowing online access to records for nearly two decades, Florida clerks of court do not charge fees to view, print or download millions of pages of public records that are now available.
Still, while some records can be made available in minutes, others have thousands of pages and thus take much longer for court personnel to review.
Online records access isn’t compulsory statewide. Rather, under the Florida Supreme Court’s administrative order, clerks now must allow online access to records to everyone — or not at all.
In some ways, it’s as if the courthouse never closes.
“We like to keep everyone happy; providing online access is helpful for everyone …” Watson said. “But with the Supreme Court, it begins and ends with the protection of information. Then comes public access. You can’t have one without the other.”
Coxe, who along with The Jacksonville Bar Association helped organize Wednesday’s meeting, said there isn’t anyone to blame for the changes that resulted in his peers’ consternation.
“What happened in Duval County is not Ronnie Fussell’s office’s fault. This is a mandate from the Florida Supreme Court,” he said.
Eighth Circuit Court Chief Judge Robert Roundtree, who chairs the state Trial Court Budget Committee, assured the Jacksonville attorneys Wednesday the irritation they are experiencing is temporary.
“This is not just something that we cooked up in a room one a night and said, ‘Let’s just turn Jacksonville’s access off,’” said Roundtree, of Gainesville. “You have to comply with the rules and the statutes, and (access to online records) will get better, I promise you.
“We went through same thing in the 8th Circuit — the same hiccups. It’s just that you have a lot more people than us,” he said.
Ninth Circuit Judge Lisa Munyon, who chairs the Florida Courts Technology Commission, emphasized that clerks of court are accountable if confidential information is put in the wrong hands.
“It is the clerk who is going to get sued if he releases something he shouldn’t release,” said Munyon, of Orlando.
Later, Roundtree sharply responded to an attorney who lamented she is being required to request records like other members of the public.
“Just because you have a Bar card does not give you special status to look at someone’s confidential information,” he said.
Before the review by clerk’s office personnel, court documents undergo an automatic review and redaction process performed by special software.
In an interview after Wednesday’s meeting, Munyon said Duval County’s efforts to balance providing online records access while protecting confidentiality are on par with other counties.
“You are ahead of 34 counties immediately because there are 34 that don’t provide (online) access at all,” she said. “Maybe the 8th Circuit’s a little ahead of the curve, but not much. And there are some circuits that are only doing general public access.”
Watson says the changes have doubled her office’s workload. While some overtime is being used, no additional funds have been allocated for the additional duties.
“This is an unfunded mandate,” she said. “We’ve had to do this within our allocated budget.”
Wagner, meanwhile, says the information and perspective provided in Wednesday’s meeting quelled most of her concerns.
“Unfortunately, when people come into an attorney’s office, we still cannot look up their cases online,” she said. “But now that I’ve gone through this meeting and heard what was said, I think the clerk’s office is doing a Herculean job of trying to reduce the backlog.”