Iron County Trial Court
State of Michigan

Security Policy for Court Facilities, Administrative Order 2001-1

At a session of said Court held 
on the 30th day of April, 2001
in the City of Crystal Falls

PRESENT: THE HONORABLE C. JOSEPH SCHWEDLER
Trial Court Judge

     This Administrative Order is issued in accordance with Michigan Supreme Court Administrative Order 2001-1. The purpose of this order is to address the presence of weapons in court facilities.

IT IS ORDERED:

     1. No weapons are allowed in the courthouse, courtroom, office or space used for official court business or by judicial employees. This prohibition does not apply to court security personnel in the performance of their official duties or to law enforcement officers who are transporting prisoners. The Chief Judge may authorized additional exceptions in extraordinary circumstances.

     2. All persons and their belongings (unless specifically excepted) and all parcels are subject to screening by Sheriff's deputies, court officers and security personnel for the purpose of keeping weapons from entering the facility.

If at any time there is an articulable and reasonable suspicion that a weapon may be found, a person or object is subject to search. The search shall be no more intrusive than necessary to protect against the dangers presented.

     3. Notice shall be posted that "No weapons are permitted in this courthouse, courtroom, office, or space used for official court business or by judicial employees. All persons and parcels are subject to a search for weapons and restricted items as a condition of entry. Persons in violation of this order may be held in contempt of court."

Dated: April 30, 2001

Public Access  of Court Records, Administrative Order 2001-1

At a session of said Court held
on the 29th day of June, 2001
in the City of Crystal Falls

PRESENT: THE HONORABLE C. JOSEPH SCHWEDLER
Trial Court Judge

IT IS ORDERED:

     This Administrative Order is issued in accordance with Michigan Court Rules 8.119(E), effective September 30, 1999 and 8.110(C)(7), effective October 1, 1988. This Administrative Order is also issued to replace Administrative Order 2001-1. The purpose of this order is to regulate public access to court records and to allow flexibility in providing approved forms.

     1. Court records are public unless specifically made not public by statute, court rule, case law or court order. (See Component 19 of the Michigan Trial Court Case File Management Standards.) Delayed Sentence cases, MCL771.1(2) are public records. Requests to inspect or copy a non-public record shall be handled according to the instructions in Component 19. In accordance with MCR 8.116(D), a person may file a motion to set aside an order limiting access to the record of a court proceeding.

     2. The following court records are not subject to public inspection: 

1. Law  Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) records;

2. Social files (in juvenile delinquency and child protective proceedings);

3. Criminal files for which the conviction has been set aside pursuant to MCL 780.621; and

4. Criminal files for which the proceedings were dismissed pursuant to MCL 250.350a(4) (parental kidnaping), MCL 769.4a (spouse abuse), or MCL 333.7411 (controlled substances).

     3. Court records are not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. MCL 15.232(d)(v) specifically exempts the judiciary from the Freedom of Information Act.

     4. In accordance with MCR 8.110(C)(7), the court shall provide litigants with forms approved by the State Court Administrator at the cost of $.50 per form.

1. Parties will be limited to a maximum of five (5) copies per each type of form requested.

2. There will be no charge for forms requested by court appointed attorneys on cases they have been appointed to or for indigent parties.

3. There will be no charge for forms prepared by the court.

4. There will be no charge for forms that the court or clerk of the court is required by court rule or statute to provide.

     5. Any person may inspect any public court file to which access is not restricted by statute, court rule or suppression order and may obtain copies subject to the following regulations established in accordance with MCR 8.119(E).

1. General
    
   1) All requests for files and/or copies must be made on a "file/copy request form" and must specify a complete case number or party names except as provided under item b (4) below.
   
   2) Persons who do not have a complete case number or party names may review available case indexes to identify and select specific cases for inspection.
   
   3) Files shall be reviewed at the public counter unless in the discretion of court supervisory personnel, approval is granted to review records in the clerk's office based on available space, the number of files to be reviewed and the length of time necessary to review them.
   
   4) Ensuring the right of immediate access to and public inspection of records shall be a top priority, but may be limited by the availability of court staff to supervise the inspection.
   

2. Access to Case Files/Information
   
   1) Requests for access to no more than five (5) specific case files will be accommodated within one (1) hour unless the files are in storage.
   
   2) Requests for access to no more than five (5) specific case files will be accommodated within a reasonable amount of time depending on the total number of case files requested and the availability of court staff.
   
   3) Requests for specific case files in storage will be accommodated within three (3) working days.
   
   4) Case information requests from the other courts that lack specific case numbers or party names shall be researched by this court. Requested information will be provided at no charge and will not require a "copy request" form.
   
   5) Requests to perform general traffic or criminal record checks that do not have specific case numbers or party names will not be researched by the court. They will be referred to the appropriate state agencies to obtain this information or to the available indexes referred to under subsection 5.a.2).
   
   6)  Requests for the wholesale review of particular types of cases will only be considered if, in the court's discretion, the request will not unreasonable interfere with the discharge of court functions. The court is not required to develop special procedures for the convenience or cost/benefit of persons requesting access and may specify the date, time and manner in which access is to be granted. It will be the responsibility of those persons requesting access to make prior, acceptable arrangements with the court.
   

3. Copies
   
   1) The court will provide a limited number of copies (under five total pages) within one (1) hour of the request for copies.
   
   2) Requests for more than five (5) total copies will be accommodated within a reasonable amount of time as determined by (1) the total number of pages to be copied (2) the availability of court staff and photocopying equipment and (3) the nature of the request, i.e., the degree to which court staff is required to identify and select documents to be copied.
   
   3) In order to preserve and maintain the integrity of court records and to prevent unreasonable interference with the discharge of court functions, persons will not be permitted to copy or otherwise duplicate court records using their own equipment.
   

4. New Record Creation
   
   1) Requests for creation of a new record or compilation of records pertaining to case files or case-related information which are granted will be accommodated within a reasonable amount of time.
        
        a) as determined by the availability of sufficient data already contained in the records or record data base to easily identify those records requested, and
   
        b) only if such compilation will not unreasonably interfere with the discharge of court functions.
   
   2) Costs to provide records under subsection 5.d.1) will include direct costs to the court to develop, generate and validate the accuracy of the report.

Effective Date: June 29, 2001

Unscheduled Court Closure due to Inclement Weather,
 Administrative Order 1999-1

Pursuant to MCR 8.112 et seq: 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the decision to close the Iron County Trial Court due to an inclement weather emergency will be made by the Administrative Chief Judge, or his designated representative, in strict compliance with any closure policy established by the Iron County Board of Commissioners after consultation with the County Administrative Head, as well as the Iron County Director of Emergency Services.

Dated: May 4, 1999

Iron County Trial Court Holidays

Iron County Trial Court Law Library

NOTICE

The following rules govern the removal of volumes from the Iron County Law Library which is under the control of the Trial Court Judge:

1. No volumes may be removed from the Law Library except by lawyers who are members of the Dickinson or Iron County Bar Association and then only as needed for the representation of their clients.
   

2. For each volumes removed a 3 x 5 card will be left with the office of the prosecutor of Iron County and upon such card will be entered the following information:
   
        A.     The name and number of the volume
        B.     Name of individual removing the volume.
        C.     Expected time of return of the volume.
   

3. Other individuals wishing to remove volumes from the Law Library may do so only with the specific approval of the Judge of the Trial Court of the County of Iron.

Dated: March 1, 2002