Officials plan to block sensitive information

By D.a. Wilkinson

The state’s top court wants to protect sensitive information.

LISBON — Columbiana County officials hope to have a new system in place in a month that will block sensitive information from the public.

In the meantime, people may have a short wait before they are allowed to see court documents.

The program began July 1 at the order of the Ohio Supreme Court, county Clerk of Courts Tony Datillio and M. Shane Patrone, his chief deputy for accounting, said Tuesday.

Tod A. Mumpire, the county’s systems administrator, made the one-month estimate.

The change came to light after a reporter asked for the file of Eric Dillard to determine if a sentencing date has been set, and sensitive information was in the file.

Dillard, 31, of Wellsville, faces up to 23 years in prison on a charge of murder after shooting his business partner, Jamie Farley, 35, of East Liverpool, outside Dillard’s home at 906 Commerce St., Wellsville, about 10 p.m. April 22, 2008.

For years, county cases often listed Social Security numbers and dates of birth on routine cases such as divorces and felony cases.

Patrone explained that the clerk’s office must remove the sensitive materials that could lead to identity theft or similar problems.

Patrone said the new order, in part, stemmed from a case where a prominent athlete in southern Ohio had his identity information stolen from a court filing.

The state’s top court extended the order to block the release of some sensitive financial material such as assets in domestic relations cases, and to block the release of the names of juveniles charged in criminal cases.

Datillio, who has worked in the office for decades, said he has never seen anyone’s identity stolen from the public records at the courthouse.

People use the records for everything from genealogy research to considering potential litigation to curiosity about the case of a friend or relative.

Patrone said the county is working with a company that is working on the software.

People could pull up court documents on their computer, but software would blur the Social Security numbers and other sensitive material.

If people want to look at the file in a specific case, workers in the clerk’s office will have to remove any sensitive material.

In the future, those materials will be kept separately, according to Patrone.

wilkinson@vindy.com