Major changes are coming to Case.net July 1, 2023, to expand public access to public case documents from personal electronic devices. This will fulfill a long-term goal of our Missouri courts.
Since its inception in the 1990s, Case.net has allowed the public to retrieve real-time public information about public cases, such as party and lawyer information, detailed docket entries, and scheduled hearings and trials. Over the years, while the information available to the public via Case.net expanded, it has provided links only to civil and criminal judgments.
With the implementation of Missouri’s electronic filing system in 2011, registered e-filing users could log into “secure Case.net” to see documents remotely, but the public could not. Instead, the public could only see public case documents by using designated computer terminals in local courthouses. Beginning July 1, however, the public also will have remote access to public case documents.
While your obligation to redact confidential information as required by law is not new, the increased public access to court documents underscores the need for diligence and care in carrying out this redaction responsibility. Find inks to revised rules regarding redaction, information about no-cost CLEs, video tutorials, and more to help you meet this obligation here in the Remote Public Access and Redaction Center.
Beginning July 1, 2023, for every document you file, you will be required to certify you have complied with your redaction obligation as to that document.
If you make a mistake – either by failing to redact information that should have been redacted or by redacting too much information – the judiciary is working on a mechanism to allow filers to correct mistakes while protecting potentially confidential information from public view.
But your best protection is to do all you can now to determine how best to protect your clients’ confidential information in your area of practice. Please take the time to do so and let us know if you have questions or concerns.
July 1, 2023, is a statewide deadline for when filers will be required to certify all documents meet redaction requirements. But not all public case documents will be available remotely to the public on that date. Instead, there will be a schedule for when a particular court’s public documents will become remotely accessible.
Note: Once remote access is granted for a particular court, that court’s public case documents will be available retroactively to July 1, 2023. The public will use the designated computer terminals in local courthouses to see public case documents filed before then.
To help balance the expansion of remote public access to Case.net with the anticipated resulting demand on the judiciary’s information technology systems, the Missouri Court Automation Committee – the statutory committee overseeing the state’s case management system – has set the following implementation schedule for 2023:
Remote access date
Courts (including all districts or divisions)
On July 1, 2023
Supreme Court of Missouri and Missouri Court of Appeals
On or after July 16, 2023
Circuits 1-11
On or after Aug. 20, 2023
Circuits 12-21
On or after Sept. 17, 2023
Circuits 22-29
On or after Oct. 22, 2023
Circuits 30-46
Click here to view a map of Missouri’s circuit courts. For court-specific information, visit the Find a Court search feature.
Starting April 24, this no-cost online program will provide an overview of the upcoming rule changes and the interplay with the e-filing system. It will also provide information regarding redaction requirements and related ethical responsibilities. Online webinars will be offered through MoBarCLE on the following dates:
Moderator training (coming soon)
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