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ELECTRONIC CASE RECORD PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY
OF THE UNIFIED JUDICIAL SYSTEM OF PENNSYLVANIA
ection 1.00 DEFINITIONS
“CPCMS” means the Common Pleas Case Management System.
“Custodian” is the person, or designee, responsible for the safekeeping of
electronic case records held by any court or office and for processing public
requests for access to electronic case records.
“Electronic Case Record” means information or data created, collected, received,
produced, or maintained by a court or office in connection with a particular case
that exists in the PACMS, CPCMS, GTS, or MDJS and that appears on web
docket sheets or is provided in response to bulk distribution requests, regardless
of format. This definition does not include images of documents filed with,
received, produced, or maintained by a court or office which are stored in PACMS,
CPCMS, GTS, MDJS, or any other automated system maintained by the
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
“GTS” means the Guardianship Tracking System.
“MDJS” means the Magisterial District Judge System.
“Office” is any entity that is using one of the following automated systems:
PACMS, CPCMS, GTS, or MDJS.
“PACMS” means the Pennsylvania Appellate Court Case Management System.
H.
“Party” means one by or against whom a civil or criminal action is brought.
“Public” includes any person, business, non-profit entity, organization, or
association.
“Public” does not include:
1.
UJS officials or employees, including employees of the office of the clerk of
courts, prothonotary, the office of the clerk of the orphans’ court division,
and any other office performing similar functions;
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B.
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people or entities, private or governmental, who assist the UJS or related
offices in providing court services; and
any federal, state, or local governmental agency or an employee or official
of such an agency when acting in his/her official capacity.
“Public Access” means that the public may inspect and obtain electronic case
records, except as provided by law or as set forth in this policy.
“Request for Bulk Distribution of Electronic Case Records” means any request,
regardless of the format the information is requested to be received in, for all or a
subset of electronic case records.
“UJS” means the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania.
“Web Docket Sheets” are Internet-available representations of data that have
been entered into a UJS-supported case management system for the purpose of
recording filings, subsequent actions and events on a court case, and
miscellaneous docketed items.
Section 2.00 STATEMENT OF GENERAL POLICY
This policy covers all electronic case records.
The public may inspect and obtain electronic case records, except as provided by
law or as set forth in this policy.
A court or office may not adopt for electronic case records a more restrictive
access policy or provide greater access than that provided for in this policy.
Section 3.00 ELECTRONIC CASE RECORD INFORMATION EXCLUDED FROM PUBLIC
ACCESS
The following information in an electronic case record is not accessible by the public:
Social Security Numbers;
Driver License Numbers;
victim information, including name, address, and other contact information;
informant information, including name, address, and other contact information;
juror information, including name, address, and other contact information;
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J.
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B.
a party’s street address, except the city, state, and ZIP code may be released;
witness information, including name, address, and other contact information;
SID (State Identification) Numbers;
financial institution account numbers, credit card numbers, PINS or passwords
used to secure accounts;
notes, drafts, and work products related to court administration or any office that is
the primary custodian of an electronic case record;
information sealed or protected pursuant to court order;
information to which access is otherwise restricted by federal law, state law, or
state court rule;
information regarding arrest warrants and supporting affidavits until execution;
information maintained in GTS, except aggregate, statistical, or other data that
does not identify an incapacitated person, as determined by the Administrative
Office of Pennsylvania Courts, may be released; and
information presenting a risk to personal security, personal privacy, or the fair,
impartial, and orderly administration of justice, as determined by the Court
Administrator of Pennsylvania with the approval of the Chief Justice.
Section 3.10 REQUESTS FOR BULK DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRONIC CASE RECORDS
To the extent that adequate resources and technical capabilities exist, a request
for bulk distribution of electronic case records shall be permitted for data that is not
excluded from public access as set forth in this policy.
To the extent that adequate resources and technical capabilities exist, a request
for bulk distribution of electronic case records not publicly accessible under
Section 3.00 of this Policy may be fulfilled where: the information released does
not identify specific individuals; the release of the information will not present a risk
to personal security or privacy; and the information is being requested for a
scholarly, journalistic, governmental-related, research, or case preparation
purpose.
1.
2.
Requests of this type will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
In addition to the request form, the requestor shall submit in writing:
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(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
the purpose/reason for the request;
identification of the information sought;
explanation of the steps that the requestor will take to ensure
that the information provided will be secure and protected;
certification that the information will not be used, except for the
stated purposes; and
whether relevant Institutional Review Board approval has been
received, if applicable.
Section 3.20 REQUESTS FOR ELECTRONIC CASE RECORD INFORMATION FROM
ANOTHER COURT OR OFFICE
Any request for electronic case record information from another court or office should be
referred to the proper record custodian in the court or office where the electronic case
record information originated. Any request for electronic case record information
concerning multiple magisterial district judge courts or judicial districts should be referred
to the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts.
Section 4.00 RESPONDING TO A REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC CASE
RECORDS
A.
Within 10 business days of receipt of a written request for electronic case record
access, the respective court or office shall respond in one of the following
manners:
1.
2.
3.
4.
fulfill the request, or if there are applicable fees and costs that must be paid
by the requestor, notify the requestor that the information is available upon
payment of the same;
notify the requestor in writing that the requestor has not complied with the
provisions of this policy;
notify the requestor in writing that the information cannot be provided; or
notify the requestor in writing that the request has been received and the
expected date that the information will be available. If the information will
not be available within 30 business days, the court or office shall notify the
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts and the requestor
simultaneously.
B.
If the court or office cannot respond to the request as set forth in subsection A, the
court or office shall concurrently give written notice of the same to the requestor
and Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
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Reasonable fees may be imposed for providing public access to electronic case
records pursuant to this policy.
A fee schedule shall be in writing and publicly posted.
A fee schedule in any judicial district, including any changes thereto, shall not
become effective and enforceable until:
a copy of the proposed fee schedule is submitted by the president judge to
the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts; and
the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts has approved the
proposed fee schedule.
A party to a case, or the party’s attorney, seeking to correct a data error in an
electronic case record shall submit a written request for correction to the court in
which the record was filed.
A request to correct an alleged error contained in an electronic case record of the
Supreme Court, Superior Court, or Commonwealth Court shall be submitted to the
prothonotary of the proper appellate court.
A request to correct an alleged error contained in an electronic case record of the
Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia Municipal Court, or a Magisterial District
Court shall be submitted and processed as set forth below.
The request shall be made on a form designed and published by the
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
The request shall be submitted to the clerk of courts if the alleged error
appears in an electronic case record of the Court of Common Pleas or
Philadelphia Municipal Court. If the alleged error appears in an electronic
case record regarding a guardianship case, the request for correction shall
be submitted to the clerk of the orphans’ court division. The requestor shall
also provide copies of the form to all parties to the case, the District Court
Administrator, and the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
The request shall be submitted to the Magisterial District Court if the alleged
error appears in an electronic case record of the Magisterial District Court.
The requestor shall also provide copies of the form to all parties to the case,
the District Court Administrator, and the Administrative Office of
Pennsylvania Courts.
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Section 5.00 FEES
1.
2.
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3.
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B.
C.
A.
B.
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Section 6.00 CORRECTING DATA ERRORS
4.
5.
The requestor shall set forth on the request form with specificity the
information that is alleged to be in error and shall provide sufficient facts,
including supporting documentation that corroborates the requestor’s
contention that the information in question is in error.
Within 10 business days of receipt of a request, the clerk of courts, clerk of
the orphans’ court division, or Magisterial District Court shall respond in
writing to the requestor, all parties to the case, and the Administrative Office
of Pennsylvania Courts, in one of the following manners:
the request does not contain sufficient information and facts to
adequately determine what information is alleged to be error;
accordingly, the request form is being returned to the requestor; and
no further action will be taken on this matter unless the requestor
resubmits the request with additional information and facts.
the request does not concern an electronic case record that is
covered by this policy; accordingly, the request form is being
returned to the requestor; no further action will be taken on this
matter.
it has been determined that an error does exist in the electronic case
record and that the information in question has been corrected.
it has been determined that an error does not exist in the electronic
case record.
the request has been received and an additional period not
exceeding 30 business days is necessary to complete the review of
this matter.
6.
A requestor has the right to seek review of a final decision under subsection
5(a)-(d) rendered by a clerk of courts, clerk of the orphans’ court division, or
Magisterial District Court within 10 business days of notification of that
decision.
The request for review shall be submitted to the District Court
Administrator on a form that is designed and published by the
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
If the request for review concerns a Magisterial District Court’s
decision, it shall be reviewed by the judge assigned by the President
Judge.
a.
b.
c.
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b.
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c.
If the request for review concerns a decision of a clerk of courts or a
clerk of the orphans’ court division, it shall be reviewed by the judge
who presided over the case from which the electronic case record
alleged to be in error was derived.
Section 7.00 CONTINUOUS AVAILABILITY OF POLICY
A copy of this policy shall be continuously available for public access in every court or
office that is using PACMS, CPCMS, GTS, or MDJS.
Effective January 1, 2022
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