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State Attorney in Florida complies with library request to get a court order for circulation records

By Mary

Mary,

Just thought I'd let you know about another subpoena we received for patron circulation records. If you recall, the last time I received a subpoena and challenged it, I was surprised to learn that this one of the first times in Florida a motion to quash a subpoena for library records had been filed.

In this case, we asked the State Attorney (in a different judicial circuit) to rescind the subpoena and provide a court order. The State Attorney had no problem with the request and within 3 weeks we had a court order directing us to turn over information.

This was different than our previous situation where we had to file a motion to quash and then have a judge direct me to release records.

It seems, despite the reluctance from our own city and county attorneys to challenge subpoenas, State Attorneys are willing to follow a process to ensure the protected information they request is obtained without the possibility of appeal.

Best wishes,

Sol

Sol M. Hirsch, Director
Alachua County Library District

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From: Mary Minow
Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 12:56 PM
To: Sol Hirsch
Subject: RE: Another Subpoena for Records

This is a great story.  Was it really circ records or was it internet use records? Just curious, but do you know what the case was (esp was it trying to establish a time/place for a suspect, or was it centered on the content of the items circulated)?

I'd love to post this on my blog. May I? As is?

Best,
Mary

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Mary,

The request was for circulation records only seeking titles and dates checked out and returned. We couldn't comply with the request for the entire time period (one year) because we purge satisfied circulation transactions quarterly. We had about 5 months worth of circulation records available.

Too bad we may lose the person as a patron. He checked out a lot of materials and returned them all on time!

No problem with placing it on the blog.

Best wishes,

Sol

Sol M. Hirsch, Director
Alachua County Library District

Full post as published by LibraryLaw Blog on April 11, 2008 (boomark / email).