2024 California Rules of Court
Rule 8.84. Limitations and conditions
(a) Means of access
Electronic access to records required under this article must be provided by means of a network or software that is based on industry standards or is in the public domain.
(b) Official record
Unless electronically certified by the court, a court record available by electronic access is not the official record of the court.
(c) Conditions of use by persons accessing records
Electronic access to court records may be conditioned on:
(1) The user's consent to access the records only as instructed; and
(2) The user's consent to monitoring of access to its records.
The court must give notice of these conditions, in any manner it deems appropriate. Access may be denied to a member of the public for failure to comply with either of these conditions of use.
(d) Notices to persons accessing records
The court must give notice of the following information to members of the public accessing its records electronically, in any manner it deems appropriate:
(1) The identity of the court staff member to be contacted about the requirements for accessing the court's records electronically.
(2) That copyright and other proprietary rights may apply to information in a case file, absent an express grant of additional rights by the holder of the copyright or other proprietary right. This notice must advise the public that:
(A) Use of such information in a case file is permissible only to the extent permitted by law or court order; and
(B) Any use inconsistent with proprietary rights is prohibited.
(3) Whether electronic records are the official records of the court. The notice must describe the procedure and any fee required for obtaining a certified copy of an official record of the court.
(4) That any person who willfully destroys or alters any court record maintained in electronic form is subject to the penalties imposed by Government Code section 6201.
(e) Access policy
A privacy policy must be posted on the California Courts public-access website to inform members of the public accessing its electronic records of the information collected regarding access transactions and the uses that may be made of the collected information.
Rule 8.84 adopted effective January 1, 2016.