ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Forty-eighth Legislature, First Regular Session
FINAL AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1167
criminal case information; disclosure
Purpose
Requires and establishes time frames for superior court criminal case minutes to be accessible online.
Background
The Arizona Supreme Court maintains Public Access to Court Information (PACI) that provides docket information online from the justice, municipal and superior courts of most Arizona counties. These records are searchable by case number or name of an individual in the case. These records consist of short case entries but do not contain judgments, sentences or the presiding judge of the case.
Limited online information is available for each of the superior courts of the 15 Arizona counties. Four counties do not maintain functioning websites for the clerk of the superior court, although their docket information is available through PACI. PACI contains superior court docket information for each Arizona county except Pima and Maricopa. The website for the Clerk of the Superior Court of Pima County contains docket information for criminal cases, searchable by case number and party name. Only Maricopa County provides minute entries online. Minute entries are searchable by case number and party name, and they may include information on the case name, number, date of action, orders and rulings.
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund, but county clerks’ offices may experience additional personnel and administrative costs associated with the publishing of criminal case minute entries online and the software necessary to make cases searchable by name, case number and the name of the judge or commissioner.
Provisions
1. Requires, effective January 1, 2008, the clerk of the court in a county with a population of two million or more to compile and publish online records of all superior court criminal case minute entries, except as prohibited by law.
2. Requires, effective January 1, 2010, the clerk of the court in a county with a population of less than two million to compile and publish online records of all superior court criminal case minute entries except as prohibited by law.
3. Requires that the online minute entries be searchable by case name, number and the name of the judge or commissioner.
4. Makes technical changes.
5. Becomes effective on the general effective date, with delayed effective dates as noted.
Amendments Adopted by Committee
1. Limits online record requirements to criminal case minute entries.
2. Creates separate requirements for counties based on population size.
3. Changes the effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee of the Whole
1. Restricts online criminal case minute entries that are otherwise prohibited by law.
2. Makes technical changes.
Amendments Adopted by the House of Representatives
· Establishes a delayed effective date for counties smaller than two million to publish minute entries online.
Senate Action House Action
JUD 1/29/07 DPA 7-0-0-0 JUD 3/15/07 DPA 7-0-0-3-0
3rd Read 2/13/07 29-0-1-0 3rd Read 4/23/07 54-0-6-0
Final Read 5/8/07 27-2-1-0
Signed by the Governor 5/8/07
Chapter 192
Prepared by Senate Research
May 18, 2007
CEW/HO/ac