SB 234

Under current law, the director of state courts established a consolidated

electronic system. This system, known as the Consolidated Court Automation

Programs (CCAP), contains information about civil and criminal cases filed in the

circuit courts in this state, including information about the parties and their

attorneys; documents filed; and deadlines, decisions, and outcomes of cases. CCAP

also contains information on family court proceedings; probate proceedings; John

Doe proceedings; reviews of certain administrative proceedings; tax warrants;

mechanics', construction, condominium, or other types of liens; civil lawsuits;

eviction proceedings; and domestic violence and other restraining orders and

injunctions.

The information on CCAP is available for free on an Internet site. The Internet

site has no limitations on who has access to the information, although information

in certain types of cases is not available to the public. CCAP allows a user to search

for all civil and criminal cases in which a person or entity, who is the subject of the

search, has been a party.

Currently, the initial CCAP Web page for each criminal and traffic or other civil

forfeiture case contains the following statements: 1) for each criminal and traffic or

other civil forfeiture case, a statement that employers may not discriminate against

persons because of arrest and conviction records, except in certain circumstances; 2)

for each criminal and traffic or other civil forfeiture case that did not result in a

conviction or forfeiture, a statement that the charges were not proven and have no

legal effect, and that the defendant is presumed innocent; and 3) for each traffic or

other civil forfeiture case in which a forfeiture but no criminal conviction was

imposed, a statement that the charge or charges in the case are not criminal offenses.

Under this bill, the director of state courts maintains a database that is

accessible to the general public on the CCAP Internet site and that provides case

information only after a court has done one of the following: 1) makes a finding that

a person is guilty of a criminal charge; 2) makes a finding that a person is liable in

a civil matter; 3) orders a person to be evicted; or 4) issues a restraining order or

injunction against the person.

Under the bill, the director of state courts maintains a separate database that

contains public records of circuit courts and that is accessible on the CCAP Internet

site to judges, court commissioners, and other court or state and local agency

employees, law enforcement officers and employees of law enforcement agencies,

lawyers, journalists, licensed debt collectors, employees or agents of financial

institutions, realtors and certain other people involved in the sale of real estate or

in mortgage or other lending, and landlords.

Under the bill, the director of state courts removes from the database that is

accessible to the general public on the CCAP Internet site all information relating

to a case if a finding or order related to the case or charge is reopened, vacated, set