As I reported earlier on WisBlawg, there is a bill being considered in the Wisconsin legislature that could mean some pretty big changes for CCAP access.
Tony Chan, Chair of the Law Librarians Association of Wisconsin Government Relations Committee offers the following summary about the changes and an alert about an upcoming public hearing on the matter.
On July 8, 2009, Representatives Schneider, Kessler and A. Williams introduced AB 340, a bill to restrict access to and limiting information contained in the Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) and providing a penalty. See History of AB 340.
Under this bill, the director of state courts may only provide case information on CCAP after a court does 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 an injunction against a person.
In addition, this bill:
1) allows free access to CCAP to Wisconsin judges or other court officials, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and accredited journalists;
2) allows access to CCAP information to any other person who pays a $10 annual fee and registers his or her name and address with the director of state courts;
3) requires the director of state courts to keep a registry and log of each user who pays the annual fee that records the searches each user performs.
Under the bill:
1) if a user searches for a person’s name on CCAP and subsequently denies the person employment, housing, or another public accommodation, the user must inform the person that he or she searched for the person’s record on CCAP. A user who fails to do so may be fined $1,000.
2) upon the written request of a person whose case information is currently available on CCAP, the director of state courts must remove any information relating to a case that did not result in a finding of criminal guilt or civil liability, an order of eviction, or the issuance of a restraining order against the person.
A public hearing will be held on Thursday, October 1, 2009, 10:15 AM (or upon adjournment of the Executive Session) at 328 Northwest State Capitol.
See
MJS editorial regarding this bill
Big Money Blog comments