Court Record Management and Case File Administration
Records lifecycle
Court records move from creation and registration to indexing, access, retention, and disposition. Each filing receives a case number and is entered in a register with date, party, and document type. Access rules distinguish public records from sealed or confidential materials. Certified copies must match the original and carry the court seal.
Integrity and retention
The clerk must preserve the chain of custody, prevent unauthorized alteration, and record every access. Retention schedules set how long each category is kept; destruction requires authorization and a destruction log. Archiving may transfer paper to digital form, but the authenticated copy remains the official record. Sealing orders override general public-access rules and must be checked before any release.
Worked example. A journalist requests a document that the judge ordered sealed. The clerk checks the sealing order, which covers the document and its contents. The request must be denied, and the denial recorded. Producing the document under a general public-access rule would violate the order and expose the clerk to discipline.
Traps
- Releasing sealed material because the case is otherwise public.
- Destroying records without an approved schedule.
- Failing to log access or copies.
- Treating a scanned image as the original without authentication.