The Illinois Supreme Court today announced the approval of a new Remote Access Policy (RAP) to take effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The RAP, which includes an implementation plan for expanding remote access to court information and documents, will initially be released to a subset of Illinois licensed attorneys selected by the Illinois State Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Technology for a trial period using the statewide re:SearchIL portal for court records.

The RAP, which was developed by the e-Business Policy Advisory Board in conjunction with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, supersedes the previous Electronic Access Policy for Circuit Court Records of the Illinois Courts. The Administrative Director of the Illinois Courts has authority to amend the RAP as is necessary and appropriate.

The RAP includes the exclusion of confidential information and documents from any system providing remote access, the identification of the six case types to be available for remote access to User Group 3 (judicial partners and public) and User Group 5 (Illinois licensed attorneys and legal services providers), and the addition of a User Group Access Chart (as an Appendix) to identify the User Groups and costs associated with remote access. Remote access to User Group 3 will be delayed until successful testing by User Group 5.

Additional changes include updates to Supreme Court Rules 9 and 313, and new Supreme Court Rule 371. Amended Rule 9(e) states that the filer is responsible for the accuracy of an electronic filing and the court and the clerk of court are not required to ensure the accuracy of data and content. Amended Rule 313(c) sets the fee for Electronic Access to Remote Access Documents in the reviewing courts. New Rule 371 sets the policy for confidential records when on review.

Any court that is integrated with re:SearchIL shall be required to make written orders entered on or after January 1, 2020, available to the remote access system. Upon integration, all other courts shall make all written orders entered after integration available to re:SearchlL. AOIC staff will provide technical assistance to courts to ensure successful implementation of this requirement.

A review of the initial RAP release will be conducted prior to June 30, 2020, and further expansion to judicial partners and the public with be evaluated and considered at that time. The full text of the RAP and the User Group Access Chart is available here.