Court Documents Are About To Get A Lot More Expensive

By Deena Winter, Minnesota Reformer

- May 27, 2022

Reporters, lawyers and the public may have to start paying a lot more for Minnesota court documents since state lawmakers didn’t pass a bill to block the fees, despite bipartisan support for doing so.

The Minnesota judicial branch has said sometime this year it will begin charging $8 per page of documents obtained through Minnesota Court Records Online or at courthouses. By comparison, federal courts charge 10 cents per page for online court documents.

Both the House and Senate had bills with language that would eliminate the fees, but the Legislature adjourned Sunday without taking action on most big funding bills, including a public safety bill that the provision was tucked into.

The state judicial branch launched online access to district court case records in March 2021, and millions of documents have been downloaded for free since then.

News reporters and independent journalists have lobbied against the fees because they routinely use court records to keep the public informed.

Blocking the fees had bipartisan support, with language prohibiting the fees in both the House and Senate judiciary bills.

The Senate, House and governor must agree on all provisions in a bill for it to become law, so unless legislative leaders agree to a special session, the judicial branch will likely begin charging the fee when the MCRO system is finalized later this year.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..