IN THE SUPREME COURT OF
THE STATE OF
In the Matter of the
Adoption
of the
ORDER ADOPTING
(By: Moon, C.J.,
Nakayama, Acoba, Duffy, and Recktenwald,
JJ.)
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Hawaii Court
Records Rules and Forms, as appended hereto, are approved and adopted,
effective September 27, 2010.
DATED:
Rule
1. SCOPE. These rules govern court and ADLRO records,
unless otherwise specified.
Rule 2. DEFINITIONS.
2.1. Accessible means available to the public for inspection
and/or copying.
2.2. Account number means numbers, letters, symbols or
combinations thereof that identify tangible or intangible property. Such property includes, but is not limited
to, bank accounts, credit union accounts, credit cards, savings bonds,
investment accounts, lines of credit, revolving fund accounts, and the like.
2.3. Administrative Director means the
Administrative Director of the Courts or others acting on the Administrative
Director’s behalf.
2.4. ADLRO means the Administrative Driver’s License Revocation
Office.
2.5. Bulk information means a volume of data from multiple court
or ADLRO electronic records.
2.6. Business hours are the hours the office of the record
custodian is open to conduct public business.
Business hours are established pursuant to HRS § 78-1.6.
2.7. Clerk means Clerk of the Supreme Court and the Chief or
Deputy Chief Court Administrators of the trial courts and their subordinates
who have custody of court records, and, with regard to the ADLRO, the
Administrative Director’s subordinates, who have custody of ADLRO records.
2.8. Compiled information means data
derived, selected, aggregated, organized, or reformulated from more than one
court or ADLRO record and reported.
2.9. Confidential means not accessible. Synonyms include, but are not limited to,
protected, restricted, and sealed.
2.10. Discrete information means specific data from a particular
court or ADLRO record.
2.11. Docket means a chronological listing of documents and
proceedings for each court or ADLRO record.
2.12. Document means pleading, motion, exhibit, order, judgment,
decree, or other form of written communication or memorialization
whether prepared on paper or electronically, including electronic documents,
electronic forms, electronic templates, and electronic reports;
2.12. Electronic record means the information and documents
maintained for each court or ADLRO case in any of the various Judiciary case
management systems and data bases.
2.13. Hearing officer means a person designated by
the Administrative Director to adjudicate ADLRO cases.
2.14. In camera means submitted solely for a judge’s review.
2.15. Individual means a natural person.
2.16. Maintain means to hold, possess, preserve, retain, store, or
administratively control.
2.17. Personal information means data used to identify an
individual or entity, or locate personal assets, income, or debts, and in which
the individual or entity has a significant privacy interest, but does not
include the address, electronic mail address, and telephone number provided for
court contact and service of process.
Personal information includes, but is not limited to, social security
numbers, dates of birth, names of minor children, bank or investment account
statements, financial records, property inventories, medical and health
records, social service reports, and the like.
2.18. Protected means not accessible. Synonyms include, but are not
limited to, confidential, restricted, and sealed.
2.19. Record means the information and documentation of the
processes for the exercise of judicial or ADLRO authority, including the documents
and process categories set out in Rule 4 of these rules.
2.20. Remote access means the ability to electronically inspect or
copy information from an electronic record without the need to physically visit
the facility where the record is maintained.
2.21. Requestor means any individual or entity who asks to inspect
or copy a record.
2.22. Restricted means not accessible. Synonyms include, but are not limited to,
confidential, protected, and sealed.
2.23. Sealed means not accessible.
Synonyms include, but are not limited to, confidential, protected, and
restricted.
2.24. Segregate means to excise, remove, or mask confidential
information from a record.
2.25. Submitted under seal means presented in accordance with Rule
9 of these rules.
Rule
3. DUTY TO MAINTAIN
RECORD.
3.1. With respect to court records, the Clerk of each court shall
maintain a record of each court case, including a docket, and shall maintain other records as
required by statute or rule.
3.2. With respect to ADLRO records, the Administrative Director
shall maintain a record of each ADLRO case, including a docket, and shall
maintain other records as required by statute or rule.
Rule 4. CONTENT OF COURT AND ADLRO RECORDS.
The record of each case, whether
electronic, paper, or a combination thereof, shall include:
(a) all documents related to the case,
including correspondence, submitted for filing in any form,
(b) any written jury instructions given
or refused;
(c) exhibits, including, but not limited to, presentence reports,
social work reports,, and tangible items, whether admitted into evidence or
refused, provided that exhibits marked for identification but never offered
shall not be included;
(d) court reporters’ notes, audio or
video recordings of court proceedings,
and any transcripts prepared from them;
(e) a docket;
(f) minutes; and
(g) information contained in the
electronic case management system.
Rule 5. DOCKETING SEALED DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS, OR
EVIDENCE.
A document, exhibit, or other
evidence that is sealed, made confidential by rule, order or statute, or
otherwise protected from public disclosure shall be listed on the docket in the
same manner as other documents, exhibits, or evidence. Access to sealed documents, exhibits, or
other evidence is governed by Rule 10.4 of these rules.
Rule 6. DOCKETING PROPOSED DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR
SIGNATURE.
Except as provided in Rule 9 of the Hawaii Electronic Filing and Service Rules,
proposed findings, conclusions, orders, or judgments submitted for signature
shall be dated and stamped "lodged" or "received" by the
Clerk, listed on the docket, and transmitted to a judge or hearing officer for
consideration. Judgments or orders shall
be filed only at the direction of a judge, hearing officer, or as otherwise
authorized by law or rule of court.
Rule
7. ELECTRONIC
INFORMATION.
Information in electronic case
management systems, including electronic documents, shall be maintained by the
Clerk (A) in cooperation with the Administrative Director and information
technology personnel, (B) in conformity with data integrity standards
established by the Administrative Director, and (C) in compliance with the
Records Control Schedules adopted by the supreme court.
Rule
8. REJECTION;
NOT GENERAL REPOSITORY.
8.1. Document Form. The
Clerk shall not refuse to file any document solely because it is not presented
in proper form. Electronic documents
transmitted or submitted to the electronic filing system may be electronically
rejected if the document does not meet the electronic filing technical
standards established by the Administrative Director.
8.2. Not a General Repository.
Neither the Court Administrator’s nor the Clerk’s Office, nor the
ADLRO are general record repositories,
and the administrator or Clerk need not accept documents or other items that
are not related to a case or that are not otherwise required by law or rule to
be kept and/or maintained by the court or ADLRO.
Rule 9. PARTIES’ RESPONSIBILITY TO
PROTECT PERSONAL INFORMATION AND ACCOUNT NUMBERS.
9.1. Prohibition; Required Form.
Except as provided in this Rule 9, in cases initiated after September
27, 2010 and notwithstanding any other rule to the contrary, a party shall not
include personal information or account numbers in any accessible document
filed in any state court or with ADLRO.
Personal information shall be submitted under seal by means of a
Confidential Information Form or a Sealed Financial Account Numbers Form that
substantially conforms to either HCRR Form 1 or HCRR Form 2 of these rules.
9.2. Sealed Envelope. The completed paper
form containing personal information shall be placed in a 9" x 12"
envelope (or larger) and sealed.
9.3. Fly Sheet. A fly
sheet that substantially complies with HCRR Form 3 of these rules shall be
appended to the front of the sealed envelope.
The fly sheet shall be captioned in accordance with the rules governing
the proceeding, titled “CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION,” and shall include the following:
(A) the case name and number; (B)
the title of the form used (i.e., Confidential Information Form or
Sealed Financial Account Numbers Form); (C) the title(s) or description of the
submitted item(s); (D) the name, address, and telephone number of the
individual submitting the personal or financial information under seal; and (E)
the statement “submitted under seal, pursuant to Rule 9 of the Hawaii Court Record Rules” and any other statute,
rule, or order that makes the item confidential, protected, sealed, or
restricted.
9.4. Authorized Electronic Filing. If the flysheet and form are submitted by
means of the authorized electronic filing process, the flysheet shall be filed
as the lead document; the form shall be designated for submission under seal
and filed as the supporting document.
9.5. Sanctions. The court
or hearing officer may impose appropriate monetary or other sanctions upon
parties or attorneys who do not comply with this Rule 9.
Rule 10. ACCESS TO COURT AND ADLRO RECORDS.
10.1. Generally. Except as
otherwise provided by statute, rule, or order, court and ADLRO records shall be
accessible during regular business hours, subject to priority use by the court,
court staff, ADLRO, and ADLRO staff.
Closed and archived records shall be accessible within a reasonable time
after a request is made, unless the records have been deleted, destroyed, or
transferred to another custodian. If the
requested record information or documents are available by remote access
without fee, the requestor shall be directed to the access site, and no other
action need be taken to comply with the request, provided that, when certified
copies of documents are requested, the Clerk shall copy or print the documents
from the paper or electronic record and shall physically or electronically
certify the copies.
10.2. Electronic Records, Manner Provided. Information from electronic case management
systems, including imaged documents, may be made available by electronic or
paper reports, print outs, electronic files, imaged files, internal or external
link to a primary or secondary data base, internet access, or by other means
that provide the information or copies of documents without compromising the
integrity of the electronic case management systems and data bases.
10.3. Electronic Records, Custom Request. When information in an electronic record is
requested or sought in a form or in a manner other than the form or manner
maintained by the Judiciary and made readily or routinely available, the
Judiciary shall make a reasonable effort to provide the information in the form
or manner requested or sought; provided that (A) direct access to any computer
system or data base need not be granted, (B) the reporting or transmitting of
data and/or the technical and administrative preparation to provide the data
will not unreasonably interfere with the Judiciary’s operations and/or
governmental functions, and (C) the requestor pays all charges for programming
the computer systems to report the data, run the reports, and/or link and/or
transmit the data to the requestor.
10.4. Restricted Records and Documents.
Except as otherwise provided by
statute or court rule or as ordered by (A) the court that has jurisdiction over
a court case, (B) the Administrative Director or the hearing officer’s designee
having jurisdiction over an ADLRO case, (C) the court that has jurisdiction over an appeal from a court or
ADLRO case, or (D) the supreme court, access to restricted records, documents,
exhibits, and information shall be limited to the court and court personnel in
the performance of their duties, the Administrative Director and his or her
subordinates in the performance of their duties, the hearing officer, attorneys
of record, parties to the court or ADLRO case, and duly authorized service
providers.
10.5. Documents or Evidence Submitted for In Camera Review.
Until such time as a court of competent jurisdiction orders otherwise, only the
judge and the judge’s staff, and the appellate courts and the appellate courts’
staff, shall have access to documents or evidence submitted for in camera
review.
10.6. Requests to Inspect or Copy Records; Description; Writing. Requests to inspect or copy records may be
made orally, in writing, or electronically.
Requests shall include a reasonable description of the record, including
the name of at least one party, the case number (if known), the case type, and
the court or ADLRO office in which the case was filed. The Clerk may request additional information
to identify or locate the requested record.
The Clerk may require that a request be made in writing or on a form
that substantially complies with HCRC Form 4 of these rules.
10.7. Requests to Inspect or Copy Records; Identification Required. The Clerk may require the individual
requesting a record
to provide identification, including a postal mailing address or email address
and telephone number.
10.8. Records Shall Not be Removed From Legal Custody; Exceptions. Records shall not be removed from the legal
custody of the Clerk or the Administrative Director except (A) upon order of
the court or agency for which the record is maintained, (B) upon appeal, (C)
upon order of the supreme court or intermediate court of appeals, (D) in
accordance with rules governing retention of exhibits and transcripts, or (E)
in accordance with retention schedules adopted by the supreme court.
10.9. Duty to Report Damage or Alteration. If a record is damaged or altered while being
accessed, inspected, or copied, the Clerk shall document the damage and report
it to the administrative/chief judge, the Clerk, or the Administrative Director
who may take such action as is appropriate.
10.10. Time to Make Record Available; Notice. Upon receipt of a request for an accessible
record, the Clerk shall make the record available for inspection and copying within
a reasonable time, subject to the court’s or ADLRO’s
priority use of the record and the payment of fees, if any. If the request to inspect or copy cannot be
accommodated within 10 business days, the Clerk shall notify the requestor and
provide an estimated date when the record will be available for inspection or
copying. If the request is for a
restricted record and the requestor is not of the class of persons having a
right of access to the restricted record under Rule 10.4 of these rules, the
Clerk shall notify the requestor forthwith that the Clerk cannot provide the
record without an order of the court for court records, or an order of the
Administrative Director for ADLRO records.
10.11. Inspection and Copying Fees; Court Records. Fees for inspecting, copying, and
transmitting copies of court records shall be charged in accordance with the
provisions of Rule 2.2 of the Rules of the Circuit Courts, Rule 2.2 of the
Rules of the District Courts, and Rule 45 of the Hawaii
Rules of Appellate Procedure. A court
may waive costs and fees for copies of its record when justice so
requires. Unless a
waiver is granted or an exemption applies, no records
or copies of records shall be released until full payment of fees for the
current request, and any previous unpaid
fees, are received.
10.12. Inspection and Copying Fees; ADLRO Records. Fees for inspecting, copying, and
transmitting copies of ADLRO records shall be in accordance with the
Judiciary’s Schedule of Administrative Fees.
10.13. Fees for Electronic Records. Fees for electronic access, for electronic
downloading, bulk distribution, or compilation of electronic information shall
be determined by the Administrative Director.
10.14. Judiciary Contractors. Where access to electronic or paper case
records is necessary to the performance of any contract with the Judiciary, the
Chief Justice or the Administrative Director may authorize access in accordance
with the terms of the contract and applicable law.
10.15. Review of Action on Request for Record. A person or entity may seek review of a
denial or grant of access to a record by petitioning the supreme
court, in accordance with Rule 21 of the Hawaii
Rules of Appellate Procedure. If the
record is confidential, the Clerk of the trial court or ADLRO, upon notice of
the petition, shall provide notice of the petition to all parties to the case
and shall file a copy of the Clerk’s certificate of service on each party,
under seal, in the record of proceeding before the supreme
court.
10.16. Requests for Bulk, Discrete, or Compiled Electronic Information. Requests for bulk, discrete, or compiled
electronic information shall be made to the Administrative Director in
accordance with Rules 10.17, 10.18, and 10.19 of these rules.
10.17. Electronic
Court and ADLRO Records: Requests for
Bulk or Discrete Data and Compiled Information.
(a)
The Administrative Director may grant requests for bulk, discrete, or
compiled information from accessible electronic court and ADLRO records or from
restricted records, provided (1) the bulk or discrete data distribution, compiling of information, and/or transmission
of data will not unreasonably interfere with the Judiciary’s operations and/or
governmental functions, (2) the requestor pays all charges for programming the
computers, linking systems, and transmitting the data, and (3) when required by
law, access is approved by a court of competent jurisdiction. A requestor should not be granted direct
access to any production computer system or data base in the usual course. The Administrative Director may take such
actions as are necessary to protect the Judiciary’s computer systems, data
bases, and web sites from automated data mining or other threats to the
integrity of the systems.
(b)
Requests for bulk or discrete data or compiled information from
electronic court and ADLRO records shall be made in writing to the
Administrative Director or to the Administrative Director’s designee. (c)
Requests for bulk, discrete, or compiled information shall be acted upon
or responded to within a reasonable time.
(d)
The Administrative Director may approve a request for bulk, discrete, or
compiled information upon finding that (1) approving the request is consistent
with these rules and any statutes that govern access to court records, (2)
resources and technical capacity are available to prepare the information, (3)
fulfilling the request is an appropriate use of public resources, and (4)
distributing or compiling the information will not interfere with the
Judiciary’s operations and/or governmental functions. In lieu of the process set out in this Rule
10.17, the Administrative Director may require that requests for bulk,
discrete, or compiled information be made to, and processed by, the Hawaii Information Consortium.
(e)
The Administrative Director shall require a requestor to pay reasonable
charges to distribute bulk, discrete, or compiled information.
(f)
Personal and financial information shall be safeguarded. Except for data
transmission to law enforcement agencies, a bulk, discrete, or compiled data
distribution shall not contain complete personal information. A bulk, discrete, or compiled data
distribution may provide the last four digits of social security numbers, and
zip codes of home addresses. The restriction
on the release of personal and financial information from court and ADLRO
records may be waived only by the Administrative Director or the Administrative
Director’s designee.
10.18. Electronic
Court and ADLRO Records: Delivery
Methods.
(a)
Electronic formats. Administrators or Clerks shall attempt to
accommodate requests for information in electronic records or information in
electronic format.
(b)
Electronic data transfer. Electronic data transfers of bulk, discrete,
or compiled information shall comply with security protocols established by the
Administrative Director.
(c)
Direct connection to judiciary
data bases/network. Requests to
directly access data bases, other than access provided to individuals through
the Judiciary’s website or in the Clerks’ offices, shall be referred to the
Administrative Director.
(d) Extracting Information. The Judiciary need not extract specific
information from records maintained in electronic format when the Judiciary
does not have the capacity or capability to do so. The Judiciary need not create reports to
extract information from electronic resources, but, where such reports exist,
the Judiciary shall provide them, unless providing the reports violates another
part of these rules, court orders, or other law.
10.19. Electronic
Court and ADLRO Records: Service
Providers.
The Judiciary may provide
information through service providers subject to the following conditions:
(a)
Contract Compliance with Security
Protocols. Contracts between the
Judiciary and information service providers shall comply with security
protocols established by the Administrative Director. Contracts may not preclude the Judiciary from
contracting with other information service providers or providing public access to records.
(b)
Review and segregation of records. Before records are provided to information
service providers, the Judiciary may review, redact, and/or segregate records
to filter information protected from disclosure.
(c)
Disclaimer required. Contracts with information service providers
shall state the Judiciary does not warrant the accuracy, currentness
or completeness of the data.
(d)
Release and indemnification. Any contract with an information service
provider shall include a release and indemnification clause, (A) releasing the
Judiciary and its officers and employees from liability for any information
supplied and (B) indemnifying the Judiciary and its officers and employees
in any lawsuit.
(e)
Insurance required. All information service providers who
contract with the Judiciary shall be required to obtain liability insurance
satisfactory to the Judiciary.
(f)
Confidentiality. Any contract with an information service
provider shall include a provision that agrees to maintain confidentiality of restricted
information in accordance with the terms of the contract.
HCRR
Form 1. CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION FORM.
Name
of Person Submitting Documents Under Seal
Address
Telephone
Number
(TITLE OF COURT OR
OFFICE IN WHICH CASE IS FILED)
STATE OF
A.B., Plaintiff, )
(CASE NUMBER): _____________________
)
v. )
) DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED
UNDER DEAL
C.D.,
Defendant. )
)
)
______________________________________ )
Confidential Information
LIST
ALL DOCUMENTS BEING SUBMITTED UNDER SEAL:
|
Date of Document |
Title or Detailed
Description |
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(use
additional sheets, if necessary)
HCRR
Form 2. SEALED FINANCIAL
ACCOUNT NUMBERS FORM.
Name
of Person Submitting Documents Under Seal
Address
Telephone
Number
(TITLE OF COURT OR
OFFICE IN WHICH CASE IS FILED)
STATE OF
A.B., Plaintiff, )
(CASE NUMBER): _____________________
)
v. )
) SEALED FINANCIAL ACCOUNT NUMBERS
C.D.,
Defendant. )
)
)
_______________________________ )
Sealed Financial Account
Numbers
FOR
EACH FINANCIAL ACCOUNT, PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING:
|
Account Number |
Name & Address of
Financial Institution |
Account
Type |
|
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(use
additional sheets, if necessary)
HCRR
Form 3. Fly Sheet for documents submitted
under seal.
Name
of Person Submitting Documents Under Seal
Address
Telephone
Number
(TITLE OF COURT OR
OFFICE IN WHICH CASE IS FILED)
STATE OF
A.B., Plaintiff, )
(CASE NUMBER): _____________________
)
v. )
) DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED
UNDER DEAL
C.D.,
Defendant. )
)
)
______________________________________ )
* * * CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION * * *
(1) Check the applicable form used and included
in sealed envelope:
Confidential
Information Form
Sealed
Financial Account Numbers Form
(2) Provide the title(s) or a general
description of the sealed document(s)/item(s):
SUBMITTED under
seal, pursuant to Rule 9 of the Hawaii Court
Records Rules and
__________________________________________________________________________.
(cite authorizing statute, rule, or order)
DATED: ___________________, Hawaii,
(date).
_______________________________________
(signature of submitting individual)
HCRR
Form 4. REQUEST TO ACCESS COURT OR ADLRO
RECORD.
REQUEST TO ACCESS COURT
OR ADLRO RECORD
DATE:
TO:
FROM: _________________________________________________________
Name
_________________________________________________________
Contact Information*
*If
we do not have enough information to contact you, we cannot process the request
for information. Please provide any
information that will allow us to contact you (name or alias, telephone or fax
number, mailing address, e-mail address, etc.)
I
WANT INFORMATION OR DOCUMENTS FROM THE
Name(s) of Party(ies) to Case:
Case Number:
Case Type:
Circuit: ___ 1st ___ 2d
___3d ___ 5th
Court or Agency in which case was
filed:
___ADLRO ___ District
___ Family ___ Circuit ___
I
WANT:
__
To inspect the record
__
To get a __ complete __ partial copy of the record.
If partial, please identify the
document(s) you want copied:
__
To pick up ordered copies from the office where it is
maintained.
__
To have ordered copies ___ mailed, ___ faxed, or ___
emailed to me at the contact address noted above.
FEES:
The
fee for paper copies of documents from a court record is: $1.00 for the first
page of each document, plus 50˘ for each additional page. See Rule 2.2 of the Rules of the
District Courts of the State of
The
fee for paper copies of documents from an ADLRO record is usually 15˘ per page
for self service; 15˘ per page plus a $2 handling fee if the clerk makes the
copies. Other fees may apply. See
the Judiciary’s Schedule of Administrative Fees (attached)