The justice courts in my county have recently been hit with requests for traffic citation information for a specific month. After due research, the status of such requests is this: Court records are exempted from the Public Information Act. Likewise, under Rule 12 of the Rules of Judicial Information, traffic citations pertain to adjudicative matters and therefore are not governed by Rule 12 procedures. However, there is a constitutional and common law right of access and inspection of such records, which the court must reasonably accommodate after a request. It is within the discretion of the court as to how to respond to requests to transfer traffic citation information to the requestor. Traffic citation information must be disclosed to the public, but this is not mandated under PIA or Rule 12 procedures.

We got one, and - with the help of the Honorable Bromley answered with a standard "ya'll come look at 'em!". So far, the person has not appeared.

It is my opinion - for whatever it's worth - that this is someone seeking to contact the defendants and bolster his practice. We have a similar request which comes in from an attorney for addresses of persons released from jail. What is our profession sinking to?

This must be the latest fad for a segment of the defense bar. We have been getting them lately from a local bottom feeder and another bottom feeder from El Paso. We are still attempting to get the projected costs established so that they can be informed of the amount they will need to pay for their requests.