§ 15-15A-3 — Definition of terms.

(1) "Court record" includes any document, information, or other thing that is collected, received or maintained by a clerk of court in connection with a judicial proceeding. "Court record" does not include other records maintained by the public official who also serves as clerk of court or information gathered, maintained or stored by a governmental agency or other entity to which the court has access but which is not part of the court record as defined in this section. (2) Information in a court record "in electronic form" includes information that exists as: (a) electronic representations of text or graphic documents; (b) an electronic image, including a video image, of a document, exhibit or other thing; or (c) data in the fields or files of an electronic database. (3) "Public access" means that the public may inspect and obtain a copy of the information in a court record unless otherwise prohibited by statute, court rule or a decision by a court of competent jurisdiction. The public may have access to inspect information in a court file upon payment of applicable fees. (4) "Remote access" means the ability to electronically search, inspect, or copy information in a court record without the need to physically visit the court facility where the court record is maintained.

Legislative History

SL 2004, ch 333 (Supreme Court Rule 04-06), eff. July 1, 2004; SL 2005, ch 291 (Supreme Court Rule 05-05), eff. Feb. 25, 2005.