Bulk Data Applications

Determination Authority

Applications for non-confidential court records may be approved by the Executive Director of IOCS. Applications for confidential court records, copies of documents, or financial information shall be approved by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). The CAO may refer applications to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Applications Related to Individual Court Self Study

When a court desires to conduct a study or review of its practices using an outside entity or individuals that are not court employees or agents which will require access to Court Records, outside individuals or entity shall apply for Bulk Distribution or Compiled Information to IOCS and include a statement from the Judge of the Court describing and approving the proposed study.

The application will be subject to review in accordance with the Criteria for Review applicable to the data sought. Applications will be evaluated and an approval determination made by the applicable Determination Authority.

If approved, execution of an OJA User Agreement will be waived if the court promoting the study has an appropriate User Access Agreement that the applicant will execute.

Applications Related to Academic Course or Program Requirements or Received from Public Interest Groups

Data applications for course work requiring preparation of a research paper must be submitted a minimum of ninety (90) days prior to the course deadline for submission. Applications will be reviewed in accordance with the established criteria, the ability of IOCS to obtain the data, and granted only in exceptional circumstances. Applications related to dissertations required for advanced degrees and Public Interest Groups will be granted priority. All applications will be subject to an assessment of costs depending upon the development time required to obtain the data.

Non-Confidential Bulk Data - Criteria for Review

A bulk data application must demonstrate that the information sought:

• is consistent with the purposes of the Rules on Access to Court Records,
• resources are available to prepare the information, and
• fulfilling the request is an appropriate use of public resources.

If approved, applications that involve court records from court(s) using a case management system other than Odyssey will be referred to the court(s) with jurisdiction of the records which shall review the application and either approve or deny the application based upon the above criteria.

Non-Confidential Compiled Information – Criteria for Review

A compiled information application must demonstrate that the information sought:

• is consistent with the purposes of the Rules on Access to Court Records,
• resources are available to prepare the information,
• fulfilling the request is an appropriate use of public resources, and
• approval provides a substantial benefit or serves a need of the Indiana Judicial System or other agencies of government as opposed to a private interest.

Confidential Court Records, Court Documents, or Financial Information

Applications for confidential court records, court documents, or financial information are rarely granted and must demonstrate clearly and convincingly that:

• the applicant has a substantial, bona fide research interest that will enhance and benefit the Indiana Judicial System or agencies of government as opposed to a private interest,
• the identification of specific individuals is ancillary to the inquiry,
• individual notice to persons affected by the release of information is unnecessary,
• the information sought is appropriately secured against disclosure to third parties,
• the information sought does not violate the purposes of the Rules on Access to Court Records,
• resources are available to prepare the information, and
• fulfilling the request is an appropriate use of public resources.

Approval of an application may establish conditions or requirements for use of the information, including without limitation:

• the confidential information will not be sold or otherwise distributed, directly or indirectly, to third parties,
• the confidential information will not be used directly or indirectly to sell a product or service to an individual or the general public,
• the confidential information will not be copied or duplicated other than for the stated scholarly, journalistic, political, governmental, research, evaluation, or statistical purpose, and
• the applicant will pay the reasonable costs of responding to the application.

Information regarding social security numbers, dates of birth, or addresses shall be restricted to the last four digits of social security numbers, the year of birth, and the zip code of addresses unless the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) finds exceptional circumstances justify a greater release.

Execution of a User Agreement and Payment of Fees

Upon approval of an application or a renewal of an approved application, all applicants shall execute a User Agreement adopted by OJA and pay the fees for data established and assessed by OJA through its Court Technology (CT) division. In certain instances, execution of a User Agreement may be waived for provision of non-confidential, compiled information if execution of the User Agreement is impractical or impossible, provision and use of the information is time sensitive, or the applicant has a substantial need for the information to perform a bona fide academic, journalistic, or governmental function and the information will not be resold, used for a commercial purpose, or contain financial information.

Applicants that seek a waiver of payment of the fees applicable to their data request must explain and justify the basis for the requested waiver in their application.

The following persons, in accordance with their functions within the judicial system, may have greater preference regarding the issue of waiver of fees:

• courts or court agencies including courts of the United States of America and their related court agencies,
• private or governmental persons or entities who assist a court in providing court services, and/or
• public agencies whose access to Court Records is defined by other statutes, rules, orders or policies.

OJA has established and posted fees for bulk data or compiled information from court records maintained in the Odyssey Case Management System. A future modification of the current fees will be based upon a review of fees charged in other Indiana courts and jurisdictions and other governmental agencies for similar court or public records. The fees shall not exceed the fair market value of the provided data and shall be posted on the website of the Indiana Supreme Court for a period of thirty (30) days before taking effect.

When an application for bulk data or compiled information is approved by a court that does not use the Odyssey Case Management System, the fee charged for the data, if any, shall not exceed the fair market value of the data. If the fee is greater than that which would be charged for data within the Odyssey system, the proposed charges shall be submitted to OJA for review. Documentation shall accompany the fee certification that illustrates, explains, and substantiates the basis for adoption of the fee and reflects the fair market value of the provided data.

Previously approved data applications that receive periodic data will not be granted renewal upon their expiration if they no longer meet the current criteria for approval.

Requests to Local Trial Court and Clerks - Administrative Rule 9(F)(2)(b)

Courts and clerks within a judicial circuit may provide non-confidential information from their case management system in response to requests for information that is normally available to the public via public access.

Bulk Data and Compiled Information from Courts Using the Odyssey Case Management System

Once all requirements of Administrative Rule 9(F) are met, IOCS will authorize Court Technology to provide the approved data directly to the applicant through a secure website data drop. The granting of an application may be made contingent upon the applicant paying the data fees established by the Indiana Supreme Court Chief Administrative Officer.

Bulk Data and Compiled Information from Courts Not Using the Odyssey Case Management System

Once all requirements of Administrative Rule 9(F) are met, IOCS provides authorization for the applicant to work with individual courts/clerks to obtain information within the scope of their request. The local trial court or clerk determines whether the information sought is consistent with the purposes of this rule, resources are available to prepare the information, and fulfilling the application is an appropriate use of public resources. The granting of an application may be made contingent upon the applicant paying data fees set by the local trial court. Individual local trial courts and clerks may be unable to provide bulk data because of current technical or staffing limitations.

Requests for Confidential Data or Compiled Information - Administrative Rule 9(F)

Under Administrative Rule 9(F), requests for bulk distribution of court records may also cover records that are confidential and excluded from public access. These requests require the approval of the Chief Administrative Officer and/or the Indiana Supreme Court.

Frequency of Bulk Data Distributions and Fees

Currently, only monthly distributions of bulk data are allowed except for the approved applicants who have chosen the “messaging” method for distribution as opposed to the “file drop” method. In the “messaging” method, changes made to court records are updated approximately every 15 minutes. Current fees are:

One-time data requests are charged at the rate of $88.00 per hour for the time required to provide the data and are only allowed once a year.

Non-Confidential Roll of Attorneys Data

The entire Roll for the Indiana Bar is contained on a single disk for $10.00 with the recipient filtering the data as desired. A fee is not charged if the data is provided by an emailed Excel Spreadsheet.

Non-Confidential Appellate Case Briefs Yearly Subscription

$10,000.00 – Includes all briefs filed by attorneys in non-confidential cases since April 1, 2016 and through the end of the subscription year.