Court Records Deleted from Circuit Court Website Without My Knowledge

[jabzag]

My question involves criminal records for the state of: OR

Years ago I was involved in a legal situation in Oregon. The criminal case involved a prominent institution, and was fairly embarrassing to that institution, hence most of it was swept under the rug and it somehow avoided press and publicity. There were also restraining orders associated with the case, which have since expired. A recent check of the county circuit court website shows that both the criminal case, and the restraining order court proceedings have been removed from the online database, whereas a couple years ago the cases showed up.

My question is, is it possible that someone intentionally removed these cases from the database? Is it possible that the petitioner to the restraining orders, and the institution were able to somehow influence the courts to remove the cases from public view? Could the cases have been retroactively sealed without my knowledge? I'm trying to figure out what happened here. Thanks for your time.

[BooRennie]

What did the court clerk say when you called and asked them your questions?

[pg1067]

Years ago I was involved in a legal situation in Oregon.

How many years ago, and what was the nature of your involvement? Were you the defendant or "involved" in some other way?

My question is, is it possible that someone intentionally removed these cases from the database?

Rather obviously, it was done either: (1) intentionally; or (2) unintentionally (including as the result of some computer glitch). Equally as obviously, no one here has any ability to rule out either possibility.

Is it possible that the petitioner to the restraining orders, and the institution were able to somehow influence the courts to remove the cases from public view? Could the cases have been retroactively sealed without my knowledge?

Of course these things are possible. What would make you think anyone here would be able to rule out these this as being possible?

I'm trying to figure out what happened here.

And are you expecting that folks here will have the slightest idea what happened? Have you asked the court clerk about this? If not, why not?

[jabzag]

Thanks for your response's. I haven't called the county clerk to ask about the cases, as I didn't have the case numbers at close hand access to reference.

I guess I wasn't clear enough in my initial post about what I was seeking to understand. I was under the assumption that once a case is logged into a criminal court system, that it was there for permanent and the only way to remove it was through a defendant's involvement in a sealing/expungement action with the court. I was just trying to figure out if it is a possibility for other parties in those cases, such as detectives or victims/petitioners to do this themselves without the defendants knowledge, if perhaps they wanted their own involvement or organization name protected from public scrutiny.

Thanks for your time, my next step is to call the clerks office.

[cdwjava]

Online access can often be limited by statute or practice/policy. The fact it does not exist on the web does NOT mean that the record no longer exists at the court.

[cbg]

It is also impossible to legislate against computer glitches.

[pg1067]

I guess I wasn't clear enough in my initial post about what I was seeking to understand. I was under the assumption that once a case is logged into a criminal court system, that it was there for permanent

This is one of the reasons why I asked you how many years ago this happened and what the nature of your involvement was. Unfortunately, you ignored those questions. If you want to answer those questions, then I may have further insight. Barring that, I agree with "cdwjava's" comment.

[jabzag]

The cases happened between 5 and 6 years ago in 2013/2014. I was the criminal defendant, and the respondent to the restraining orders.

[Taxing Matters]

I guess I wasn't clear enough in my initial post about what I was seeking to understand. I was under the assumption that once a case is logged into a criminal court system, that it was there for permanent and the only way to remove it was through a defendant's involvement in a sealing/expungement action with the court.

That's not the case. No law says that a case must remain available for online access permanently unless sealed or expunged. Courts may (and often do) have record retention policies in which older data is removed after some period of time. Storage costs money, and once cases reach a certain age there is no real value in keeping them online any longer. So the more practical and cost effective move is to remove those old records.

[bcr229]

The cases happened between 5 and 6 years ago in 2013/2014. I was the criminal defendant, and the respondent to the restraining orders.

Can you find other criminal cases in the system from that timeframe, or that are older?

Also if the RO's have expired I can see why those would be purged from the online system, though the case records may still be available from the courthouse directly. Similarly if you were not convicted that may be another reason the records are not available for online viewing but only from the courthouse.