BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The North Dakota Supreme Court has suspended newly expanded online access to court documents.
In September, the high court adopted a rule change on public access to court documents. That change was made to “maximize accessibility of court records” by allowing people to access documents remotely, instead of going to a courthouse to request records.
The change took effect Jan. 1. But the state Supreme Court suspended the expanded access after dozens of complaints about privacy concerns.
State Supreme Court Justice Jon Jensen, who is now chief justice, had told The Bismarck Tribune the rule change was in line with national state court groups’ best practices to eliminate physical barriers to public court documents.
On Tuesday, State Court Administrator Sally Holewa said that remote access is “on hold while we evaluate the situation.”
A larger number of documents than expected don’t comply with a 2009 privacy rule for redacting information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, minors’ names and financial account numbers. It is the filer’s responsibility to follow the rule, Holewa said.
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