Chapter 31.06 COURT RECORDS
(1) Policy and Purpose. It is the policy of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe to facilitate access to Court records. Access to Court records is not absolute and shall be consistent with reasonable expectations of personal privacy and shall not unduly burden the business of the Courts.
(2) Scope. This rule applies to all Court records, regardless of the physical form of the Court record, the method of recording the Court record or the method of storage of the Court record. Administrative records are not within the scope of this rule.
(3) Access.
(A) The public shall have access to all Court records except as restricted by Tribal law, federal law, state law, court rule, court order, or case law.
(B) Information from an official juvenile offender Court record shall not be displayed on a publicly accessible website. This rule does not preclude accessing the record, digital or otherwise, from a county clerk’s office location.
(C) A fee may not be charged to view Court records at the courthouse.
(4) Limitation on Dissemination of Juvenile Offender Court Records. The dissemination of juvenile offender Court records maintained in the Tribal Court System shall be limited as follows:
(A) Juvenile offender Court records shall be excluded from any bulk distribution of Court records, except for research purposes as permitted by Tribal Council Resolution.
(B) The Tribal Court shall not display any information from an official juvenile offender Court record on a publicly accessible website.
(5) Rules. Tribal Court judges may recommend amendment or rules governing access to Court records to the Tribal Council, but the Tribal Council in its sole discretion will determine whether to approve such rule(s).
(6) Personal Identifiers Omitted or Redacted From Court Records.
(A) The Tribal Court and all parties shall not include, and if present shall redact, the following personal identifiers from all documents filed with the Court, whether filed electronically or in paper, unless necessary or otherwise ordered by the Court:
(a) Social Security Numbers. If the Social Security Number of an individual must be included in a document, only the last four digits of that number shall be used.
(b) Financial Account Numbers. If financial account numbers are relevant, only the last four digits shall be recited in the document.
(c) Driver’s License Numbers. If driver’s license numbers are relevant, only the last four digits shall be recited in the document.
(B) The responsibility for redacting these personal identifiers rests solely with counsel and the parties. The Court, and the Clerk, will not review each pleading for compliance with this rule. If a pleading is filed without redaction, the opposing party or identified person may move the Court to order redaction. The Court may award the prevailing party reasonable expenses, including attorney fees and Court costs, incurred in making or opposing the motion.
(7) Distribution of Court Records Not Publicly Accessible.
(A) A public purpose agency may request Court records not publicly accessible for scholarly, governmental, or research purposes where the identification of specific individuals is ancillary to the purpose of the inquiry. In order to grant such requests, the Court or the Tribal Council must:
(a) Consider: (aa) the extent to which access will result in efficiencies in the operation of the judiciary; (bb) the extent to which access will fulfill a legislative mandate; (cc) the extent to which access will result in efficiencies in other parts of the justice system; and (dd) the risks created by permitting the access.
(b) Determine, in its discretion, that filling the request will not violate this rule.
(c) Determine the minimum access to restricted Court records necessary for the purpose is provided to the requestor.
(d) Assure that prior to the release of Court records that the requestor has executed a dissemination contract that includes terms and conditions which: (aa) require the requester to specify provisions for the secure protection of any data that is confidential; (bb) prohibit the disclosure of data in any form which identifies an individual; (cc) prohibit the copying, duplication, or dissemination of information or data provided other than for the stated purpose; and (dd) maintain a log of any distribution of Court records which will be open and available for audit by the Court or the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, through the Tribal Court or the Tribal Council. Any audit should verify that the Court records are being appropriately used and in a manner consistent with this rule.
(B) Courts, Court employees, clerks and clerk employees may access and use Court records only for the purpose of conducting official Court business.
(C) Criminal justice agencies may request Court records not publicly accessible; however, ICWA and Juvenile Offender Court Records shall not be subject to release under this exception.
(a) Agencies requesting access under this chapter of the rule shall identify the Court records requested and the proposed use for the Court records.
(b) Access by criminal justice agencies shall be governed by a dissemination contract. The contract shall: (aa) specify the data to which access is granted, (bb) specify the uses which the agency will make of the data, and (cc) include the agency’s agreement that its employees will access the data only for the uses specified.
(8) Bulk Distribution of Court Records. Companies or persons interested in publication of Court records for the legal community and the general public, such as Westlaw, Lexis Nexis, or Law360 (or similar legal news publication services), may request permission for bulk distribution of Court records.
(A) A dissemination contract and disclaimer approved by the Tribal Court for records must accompany all bulk distribution of Court records.
(B) Dissemination contracts shall not permit the dissemination or distribution of juvenile courts or ICWA records.
(C) A request for bulk distribution of Court records may be denied if providing the information will create an undue burden on Court or Court Clerk operations because of the amount of equipment, materials, staff time, computer time or other resources required to satisfy the request.
(D) The use of Court records for the purpose of commercial solicitation of individuals named in the Court records is prohibited.
(9) Notice. The Court Clerk shall develop a method to notify the public of access to Court records and the restrictions on access.
(10) Access to Juror Information. Individual juror information, other than name, is presumed to be private. After the conclusion of a jury trial, the attorney for a party, or party pro se, or member of the public, may petition the Trial Court for access to individual juror information under the control of Court. Upon a showing of good cause, the Court may permit the petitioner to have access to relevant information. The Court may require that juror information not be disclosed to other persons.
(11) Access to Master Jury Source List. Master jury source list information, including name and address, is presumed to be private and is assumed to be an enrollment record of the Tribe. Any request for access to the master jury source list must be submitted to the Court, and the Court shall pass notice of the request to the Enrollment Department for review and consideration according to standing Enrollment Department policies.
(12) Authorized persons may obtain copies of documents contained in a Tribal Court file from the Clerk for a reasonable charge as set forth in the Tribal Court Fee Schedule. The Clerk shall certify that such copies are accurate copies of the document(s) on file in the relevant Tribal Court proceeding.
(13) Court files shall be maintained by the Clerk for a minimum of three years from the date the case concludes in Tribal Court. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Tribal Court decision is appealed to a United States Federal Court, then all files shall be maintained by the Clerk until the conclusion of the Federal Court proceeding and any appeals thereof. [Res. 24-44, 2024.]