In our August 2014 newsletter, I discussed AOSC14-19, the Florida Supreme Court administrative order that lifted the 10-year moratorium on online access to electronic court records.  As we continue to take steps in implementing this order, I want to keep you up-to-date with the changes.

Our office has historically provided attorneys and other users electronic access to civil and criminal court records through our Judicial Website.  Currently, we have nearly 5,000 users of our judicial website of which 3,800 are external attorneys.  However, the Leon County MIS Department, which maintains the Justice Information System (JIS), has operated a subscription service through December 31, 2014, providing access to criminal data and specialized customized reports to a small number of attorneys and other external users. 

In October 2014, Leon County MIS began sending out notification to subscribers advising them the service would be discontinued.  Part of that notification stated, "In collaboration with the Leon County Clerk of the Circuit Court, the Leon County Management Information Services (MIS) Justice Information System (JIS) for Leon County criminal case information will transition to a free, less complicated, and easy-to-use web browser solution.  Effective January 1, 2015, access to the Leon County Management Information Services (MIS) Justice Information System (JIS) for Leon County criminal case information will cease.  Appropriate access to Leon County criminal case information will be provided by the Leon County Clerk of the Circuit Court as mandated by the Administrative Order 14-19 from the Florida Office of the Supreme Court.  This new access is through the Clerk's Judicial Website and is provided free of charge." 

Attached to that notification was a letter from me that stated, "Our offices are working together to provide those reports to you directly on the Judicial Website.  They will be available to you by the end of the year, when the transition from JIS is completed for you.  We will post an announcement on the site at that time.  This move also furthers my office's plans to move from using JIS as the repository for criminal data to our Benchmark application, which currently houses all civil data, juvenile delinquency, and criminal and civil traffic.  This will allow my office to become more efficient in data processing, while still meeting the needs of all of our customers--law enforcement, judiciary, probation, state agencies, etc."  All prior JIS subscribers requesting access through our office have been provided access to our Judicial Website.  We also worked with the County MIS Department to ensure that all customized reports were added to our judicial website so there would be no diminution in service. To assist in this transition, we have developed a users manual.  If your questions are not addressed by the manual, please contact our staff directly. (See "Quick Links" above for training manual on how to register.  All other training manuals are under the "Help" tab once you're logged in.) 

We understand that change can be difficult and we remain ready to assist as needed.  We ask that you explore the site as we believe all of the functionality you've enjoyed in the past has been incorporated into the Judicial Website.  Some of you expressed a concern that "external attorneys" are being treated differently than "internal attorneys". You are correct; the administrative order directs how groups of users are to be treated, and we are making the changes as required by AOSC14-19.  As mentioned in my August newsletter, these changes are based on the articulated security concerns of the Court and incorporated by Court rule.

Other activities are taking place as a result of AOSC14-19; here's a brief summary: 

1. In October, the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers formed a special AOSC14-19 task force.  The purpose of the task force was to review the order and ensure a common understanding and interpretation.  The task force has met several times since October with the Florida Courts Technology Commission (FCTC) staff and has made great strides in developing a plan to assist Clerks statewide in consistent implementation of the order. 
2. As previously mentioned each Clerk had previously completed their application for electronic access as required by the Courts.  Since then, the task force worked with the FCTC staff to develop specific language for inclusion in the applications that the court was seeking.  Our office submitted revised our application incorporating the recommendations of the task force to ensure that the FCTC has complete, accurate and up-to-date information in considering our applications next month.
3. We have started implementation of the use of notarized user application forms.  During the recent transition of JIS users to the Judicial Website, all non-attorney users submitted notarized forms to obtain access.  Soon we will send out forms to all users of the Judicial Website (attorneys, agencies, etc.) so that we will have notarized agreements for all access, as required by the Florida Supreme Court. 

I will have more to share with you after next month's meetings to review Clerk applications statewide.  Please let me know if you have any questions in the meantime.