Wisconsin 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.
Wisconsin Lawyer
