(C) Daily Montanan
This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Court clerks may sue courts, auditors to protect private data [1]

['Darrell Ehrlick', 'More From Author', '- July', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width']

Date: 2025-07-24

The state association of Montana’s clerks of court — tasked with maintaining the records and schedules of state district courts — said it’s weighing options in a fight with the Administrator of the Montana Courts and the Legislative Audit Division centering on data privacy concerns.

Clerks are concerned an upcoming audit, part of the Legislature’s look into the state court system and its caseload, will disclose to state auditors information that is either under court seal or confidential data ranging from medical records to criminal investigations..

The heart of the issue is two-fold: Which entity controls the system and which is in charge of maintaining the records.

In a letter sent on Monday by Dave McAlpin, administrator for the state courts, he outlined his office’s understanding of state law and the audit. Clerks are elected at the county level and answer to the voters, while McAlpin’s position is appointed and answers to the Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court. Clerks and attorneys have raised concerns about giving full access to auditors who would be able to look into specific cases. A spokesperson for the clerks, Richland County Clerk Janice Klempel, issued a statement to the Daily Montanan on behalf of the association:

“I am very concerned that Montana citizens’ private, protected information may be released and we are weighing all our options, meaning the association is considering it.”

Another clerk confirmed they’re considering legal action because the clerks are concerned about giving access to information placed under seal by judges or data that would disclose minors and victims.

Sidney-based attorney Tom Halvorson submitted a commentary which has been published by the Daily Montanan, raising concerns about the need of auditors to examine confidential portions of the court records.

“Theoretically, the audit division needs that access to evaluate whether the state needs more district judges, and which districts might need them. What is not clear is how invading the privacy of Montana’s citizens would be relevant to that legislative task,” he said.

Halvorson pointed to concerns ranging from the identity of victims of sexual assault, DNA information and even grand jury raw data, he said in the column.

Eric Seidle, a spokesperson for the Legislative Audit Division, said that auditors have completed similar audits and studies, as recently as 2024, and are required by state law to maintain confidentiality. For example, members of the Legislative Audit Division have recently completed performance audits of the Office of Public Defender as well as the Judicial Standards Commission.

“Any access to sealed records will be done with the full cooperation of the judicial branch and will be strictly limited to the information necessary to validate case data,” Legislative Auditor Angus Maciver told the Daily Montanan.

He also outlined the data security standards for the auditors, which includes encrypting data in transit and storage, limiting the audit staff working on it, and destroying securely any non-essential information.

“More importantly, the Legislative Audit Act prohibits disclosing confidential information,” Maciver said.

Who is in charge of what

Part of the tussle is about which entities control the information. Court cases, both criminal and civil, are filed at the county level through each respective county clerk, whose office maintains the files. Many — but not all — of the files are open for public inspection.

However, those paper files are also stored in an electronic court filing system, “Full Court Enterprise.” In most cases documents are scanned, converted into electronic copies, as well as other parts the case are collected with it, including notes about scheduling and conferences. The Full Court Enterprise technology is owned, operated and maintained by the state court system, which is overseen by the state’s Supreme Court.

In most cases, county clerks maintain public-access terminals for members of the public to access court records. Most court cases, from misdemeanor to felony, civil or criminal, are open to the public with notable exceptions, for example, juvenile justice cases which are closed. Judges can also put certain documents ”under seal” which means they’re only viewable by the judge or attorneys, but not the public. Those files are not accessible to the public, but are accessible to some court staff.

Clerks raised the concern that they may be held responsible for maintaining the confidential of the records, but don’t have a say in whether auditors from the state access that confidential information.

In the letter by McAlpin, he said that access to the software is a settled issue.

“Users expressly consent to the audit of the (Full Court System) and files since 2024,” he said.

Citing Montana law, McAlpin also said it authorizes auditors to access records “confidential or otherwise,” acknowledging that auditors may also access confidential criminal justice data.

“By law, a person accepting (confidential criminal justice data) ‘assumes equal responsibility for the the security of the information with the originating agency,’” McAlpin said, citing state statute.

McAlpin sent the letter to the clerks’ association, and said that full access would be granted by 5 p.m., July 24, because auditors could not wait longer to begin the audit.

“This is to notify (the Legislative Audit Division) that we believe you have provided the requisite information and legal authority for this office to allow your agency access to the Full Court Enterprises for the purpose of this performance audit,” McAlpin said.

Maciver said he understands concerns regarding privacy, and auditors handle sensitive, confidential information in other state agencies, including the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

“Through this work, the Legislative Audit Division remains committed to upholding both transparency in government operations and the privacy rights guaranteed by the Montana Constitution,” Maciver said.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2025/07/24/court-clerks-may-sue-courts-auditors-in-order-to-protect-private-data/

Published and (C) by Daily Montanan
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.