Two case management systems and 77 county clerks have created a hodgepodge of electronic court records available online for public review in Oklahoma.
That could change starting next year, when the first four counties to join a statewide management system go online.
In 2007, the Oklahoma State Courts Network began raising money to fund a searchable electronic system to replace a largely paper-based system.
The decision about whether to post the electronic court records that have been collected in past years has been left to individual county clerks.
But that could soon change.
The new statewide system, which will cost about $28 million, will allow users to read specific court filings online. Plans call for each county to post the same type of records, thus turning the hodgepodge into a uniform state filing system across all 77 counties.
Currently, only a few counties post a wide range of electronic documents, and Tulsa County is not one of them.
"I have the full expectation from the time we run this out ... we'll be adding the same records for every county in the same way," said Mike Evans, administrative director of the courts. "That's not how it's been done in the past."
Evans said it's still unclear what records will be posted online and in what form.
The Tulsa County Court Clerk's Office posts online only specific filings related to small claims court cases.
Sally Howe Smith, Tulsa County's court clerk, said concerns about publishing private information, such as Social Security numbers, have kept her office from putting additional court filings online.
Smith said she wouldn't mind posting more documents as long as county clerks are protected from lawsuits alleging a violation of privacy.
Possible ways to tackle confidentiality issues include a law or court ruling stating that the filer has to advise the court of any confidential information in the documents or a law stating that the filer would not hold the court clerk liable for the information's release, Smith said.
But other court clerks, including those in Oklahoma, Cleveland and Garfield counties, already post a wealth of documents online.
Garfield County posts about 15 types of records online, including those related to traffic tickets, wildlife tickets, criminal felonies and most criminal misdemeanors, Court Clerk Margaret Jones said.
The office began posting records online in 2000 and expanded the effort when she became clerk in 2007, Jones said.
Publishing the records makes researching information convenient, she said.
"Law enforcement will have immediate access to needed information; attorneys can review documents to assist with their cases; people with rental property use it to check the background of renters; and genealogists find it very useful," Jones said.
Although the state Supreme Court has yet to decide what information would be posted online under the new system, Jones said she's looking forward to the statewide system.
"With the completion of the new system, I expect to manage our time more efficiently, improve collections and provide the citizens of Garfield County the best service possible," she said. "It is a win-win situation for everyone."