Definitions

(a) Case Management System (CMS). An electronic docu- ment repository database maintained and managed by the Judiciary and administered by the respective courts to track information used to manage the courts’ caseload, such as case numbers, party names and identifiers, attorneys for parties, titles of all documents filed in a case, and all scheduled events in a case. (b) Database. The Database is an electronic collection of court records which is accessible through the Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal and is displayed as a register of actions or Docket. (c) Docket. Listing of parties, case events, document filings, or other activities in a case set forth in chronological order. (d) Electronic Access. Access to electronic case information through a computer and the Internet, either from terminals located within a courthouse or a computer at a remote location. (e) Electronic Case Information. Any document, information, data, or other item created, collected, received, or maintained by a court in connection with a par- ticular case that is readable through the use of an electronic device. This definition does not encompass data maintained by or for a judicial officer or court pertaining to a particular case or party, such as personal notes and communications, memo- randa, drafts, or other working papers; or information gathered, maintained, or stored by a government agency or other entity to which the court has access but which is 1 Revised September 2023 not entered into the Docket of the case. (f) Electronic Document. The electronic form of pleadings, notices, motions, orders, exhibits, briefs, judgments, writs of execution, and other papers filed with a court. (g) Electronic Filing System (EFS). An approved Judiciary-wide system for the filing and service of pleadings, motions, and other documents or information via electronic means such as the Internet, a court-authorized remote service provider, or through other remote means to and from the Judiciary’s CMS. (h) Non-public Document. A document which is required to be filed with a court and made available to opposing parties in the case but contains a significant amount of personal identifying information or contains information that is designated as non- public by state or federal law, court rule, court order or case law resulting in the document being designated as non-public in its entirety. (i) Personal Identifying Information. Information of a non-public nature which can be used to identify an individual within a document but can be redacted within the document. (j) Public. An individual, group, agency, business, or non-profit entity, organiza- tion, or association. The term also incorporates print or electronic media organiza- tions. A government agency for which there is no existing policy defining the agency’s access to court records is also included in this definition. (k) Public Document. An Electronic Document filed in the EFS that is not des- ignated as non-public in its entirety but may contain non-public information that has been redacted. (l) Public Access. The process whereby a member of the Public may inspect and/or copy Electronic Case Information maintained by a court. (m) Registered User. An individual or entity with an assigned username and password authorized by the Judiciary to access and utilize the EFS. (n) Remote Access. Process by which the inspection of case information main- tained by a court is accomplished by electronic means from a physical location other than a courthouse. (o) Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal (Public Portal). An online service provided and maintained by the Judiciary which, for purposes of these rules, is the point of entry for access to Electronic Case Information from the Judiciary’s Data- base whether at the courthouse or remotely. 2 Revised September 2023