Public records won't be as available in Ohio starting July 1
From Sunshine Review
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June 29, 2009 New policies in Ohio will make seeing court records more difficult beginning Wednesday, but the officials do not think, the public is being kept out.[1]
[edit] Ohio public records will be withheld
"Nobody's stopping anybody from having access to public records," Columbiana County Clerk of Courts Anthony Dattilio said. "They just won't have access to personal information or personal identifiers in that record."
Clerks offices in Ohio will remove personal identifying information from requested documents before handing them over to members of the public, including attorneys and abstractors.
The policies are under the Ohio Supreme Court Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio and take effect July 1. They would strike information such as social security numbers, except for the last four digits, financial account numbers, such as debit card and credit card numbers or banking information, employer and employee identification numbers and a juvenile's name in an abuse, neglect or dependency case, except for the child's initials or a generic abbreviation. However, names and dates of birth will remain public record.
A person cannot walk into a clerk of courts office to request to see a file and have it handed over to them for their perusal anymore. The information that these new policies forbid will have to be stricken from the records before they can see it.[1]
[edit] To prevent identity theft
The change will affect all courts, including Common Pleas Court and county Municipal Court.
The Courthouse in downtown Libson will no longer be able to allow the public to view scanned images on the public computers at the clerk's office. The system is working to create software that will automatically censor the information.
"This is another step to protect the public from identity theft. This is a benefit to the public," Dattilio said.
The change won't affect Internet access on the clerk's Web site, which didn't include the ability to read scanned material anyway. [1]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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