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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    November 29, 2006

    WCCA Web site adds summaries to help viewers interpret case information

    The Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) Web site, providing access to circuit court records, recently made changes to help viewers interpret case information. Executive summaries now appear when accessing a criminal, traffic, forfeiture, or a civil case filed with a restraining order.

    Wisconsin LawyerWisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 79, No. 12, December 2006

    WCCA Web site adds summaries to help viewers interpret case information

    The Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) Web site, providing access to circuit court records, recently made changes to help viewers interpret case information. Executive summaries now appear when accessing a criminal, traffic, forfeiture, or a civil case filed with a restraining order.

    "When you have charges that are dismissed but read in, deferred prosecutions, 'filed-only' cases, pardons, and so on, it becomes difficult to understand what exactly took place," said WCCA Oversight Committee member Taylor County circuit court judge Gary Carlson. "The summaries - along with a glossary of legal terms - should help to ensure that visitors to the site correctly interpret the information that is presented."

    Under the old system, the dismissal of a criminal matter might not have been clear to viewers. The executive summary, which displays before the case details, reads: All charges against John Doe in this case have been dismissed. These charges were not proven and have no legal effect. John Doe is presumed innocent.

    Executive summaries also are accompanied by an admonition that discriminating against job applicants on the basis of conviction records may be a violation of state law.

    Records retention. WCCA now follows the minimum records retention rule developed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which means records of certain cases that WCCA would have retained for 10 years, now will be available for shorter periods. Small claims matters that have been dismissed, for example, will appear for two years and traffic and forfeiture cases will appear for five years. Exceptions include cases for which there is an outstanding warrant or a pending appeal, or money is owed.

    The committee, comprising 31 judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, technology experts, clerks of court, members of the media and law enforcement, legislators, and court staff, was appointed by Director of State Courts A. John Voelker, who accepted all recommendations in the committee's final report.

    The 42-page report is available at www.courts.state.wi.us/about/committees/wcca.htm.


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