The Elyria Municipal Court docket, which is a public database that can be found here, has been discovered making individuals social security numbers public. This sensitive information, which isn’t intended for public use, is done unbeknownst to the plaintiff. In addition, this isn’t the first time that the Elyria Courthouse has done this as they’ve had to scrub the entire online database at least once in the past of social security numbers. Furthermore, the court house which is located at 601 Broad St. in Elyria, Ohio, is violating some of it’s very own laws according to the Ohio.gov website.
More than 100 documented cases of publicly ousted social security information can be freely found embedded within the Elyria Municipal Court’s public records search. The social security information can be found featured in wide ranging cases, from protection orders to assaults & even BMV lottery drawings (for individuals without insurance). Located deep within the court’s docket notes – generally towards the end of the docket, is where one can typically find an individuals social security number.
Readers Note: In an effort to protect the more than 100 individuals that have been submitted, Scumbagged.com has decided that we will only list and publicly display one such case. We have also taken the liberty to strike out the actual social security number from the screenshot that was submitted, however this information is all obtainable through the Elyria Municipal Court Docket lookup.
One prime example that can be found displaying a social security number to the public via the Elyria Municipal Court’s docket search is of the following individual. This information is being made public for general awareness. With that being said, you are not to use this information or information obtained within the Elyria Muni. Court’s system for any illegal purposes…
- Name: Cynthia Knight
- Case filed on: 05/05/2017
- Case#: 2017CVH01214
- Plaintiff: Cynthia Knight
- Defendant: BMV
In the case above, which stemmed from a simple lottery pulled regarding a non-compliance suspension by the BMV, the court docket clearly reflects the individuals social security number, date of birth, full name & address. Thereby giving a would-be fraudster the necessary information needed to manipulate their identity. With the information provided by the Elyria Court’s someone could sign up for credit cards, obtain utility information in said persons name or even worse… The screenshot below reflects the entry which contains her blatantly public social security number.
UPDATE March 20th, 2018 at 3:30pm: In a recorded conversation which is published below, Scumbagged brought this to the attention of the Elyria Municipal Courts and the above referenced social security was immediately removed, however, as of this writing there are still hundreds of social security numbers public on the website.
The Elyria Municipal Court docket also provides additional information in some cases. In one such search an individuals child’s name was furnished, as well as the location of their school. We assume that the individuals responsible for providing this information is one of the numerous clerks that are assigned to the docket information at the Elyria Court House.
Scumbagged.com placed a call to the Elyria Courts and asked them why they would be publishing such sensitive information. We wen’t from one individual to another with varying responses. We pretended that the individual listed above was our friend. One woman who works for the courts stated; “I mean that’s what’s given to us, they did you know, when they stopped putting social security numbers on the licenses, that’s when start, we stopped putting them on the traffic cases, but with the criminal cases if it comes with in with it we still do put them on there, because it helps us with identification.”
The second individual asked us for the case number of the person with the social security number publicized, upon referencing it she said “I see that’s in there, hold on I’m going to transfer you”. She then tried to transfer us around for a few minutes (which she was unsuccessful at doing so) and then decided to come back and take a look for the file herself (even though she had already found it). Then after another minute passes she comes back onto the line and states “Ok you know what I’m not exactly sure what happened with that one, but we took it out.” We then asked her why it was in there to begin with, to which she responds; “Well I can only tell you if it’s in the docket, for us to type, then we are supposed to type it, so umm.” She also went on to add… “The Judges or the Magistrate does it off the journal entry and then the clerk of courts have to type it in there. If it’s in there then we have to type it because it’s a legal document”.
We then spoke with an individual by the name of “Matt”. We asked him how this comes to be… “Well, there’s not supposed to, what happens is in the docket, where they’ve done some form and they put it on there and they should know better than to do that.”. We asked him who is responsible for doing this? “That would be up in the Judges Office”. We then went on to re-iterate the original case number we had referenced in the beginning and again asked him who is responsible for doing this? “It’s one of the people in the court room, whoever did the entry that is in question, when they are doing it, in this case they are doing it to the BMV, and there is a field when being sent to the BMV where the social security is entered. However, being said that, they are not supposed to put it out there. And if it is out there, then I need to have a talk with them AGAIN! And now that you’ve brought it up to me I have to go ahead and scrub the data again, and this is something I’m going to do when we hang up.” That’s when we realized that this wasn’t the first time that this has happened… Matt when on to say that “It happened as soon as we moved into this building once, and we had a new Judge and they were doing it”.
Through the entirety of the various conversations we had, we learned one thing. From one person to the next the Elyria Municipal Court’s are unsure as to the policies regarding the publication of social security numbers. With one saying that they “have to” enter them and with another saying that they’ve been informed “numerous times” to stop doing this. We ended this by advising the Elyria Courts of the laws that they were in violation of and we also went on to verbally reprimand them for the atrocity of putting such individuals social security numbers online.
The Law Violating The Law
The law clearly states that in no circumstances (unless otherwise required by state or federal law) should someones social security number be made public. The cases that are found within the Elyria Municipal Court Docket should not have social security numbers published as they are not required by law to do so.
Ohio Revised Code 111.241 Documents with social security numbers: (A) The secretary of state shall not accept a document for filing or recording if the document includes any individual’s social security number or federal tax identification number. If a document presented for filing or recording includes any individual’s social security number or federal tax identification number and the secretary of state refuses to accept that document for filing or recording, the secretary of state or the person who attempted to file or record the document with the secretary of state may immediately redact the individual’s social security number or federal tax identification number from the document. (B) Division (A) of this section does not apply to either of the following: (1) Any document that originates with any court or taxing authority; (2) Any publicly recorded document that is required by federal or state law to include an individual’s social security number or federal tax identification number. (C) This section does not apply to documents that were executed by an individual prior to the effective date of this section.
See: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/111.241v1
Ohio Revised Code 317.082 Social security number not to be included in document filed for recording: (A) As used in this section, “preparer” means any mortgage company, bank, title agency, or other person responsible for filing documents with the office of a county recorder for recording under section 317.08 of the Revised Code. (B) Except as provided in division (C) or (D) of this section, the preparer of any document to be recorded by a county recorder under section 317.08 of the Revised Code shall not include any individual’s personal information in any document that is filed for recording in the office of the county recorder under that section. The county recorder shall not accept such a document for recording if it includes any individual’s personal information. If a document presented for recording includes any individual’s personal information and the county recorder refuses to accept that document for recording, the county recorder or the person who attempted to file the document with the county recorder may immediately redact the individual’s personal information from the document. The preparer is not liable in damages in a civil action for any harm an individual allegedly sustains as a result of the inclusion of the individual’s personal information on a document in violation of this division if the preparer establishes as an affirmative defense that the preparer made a good faith effort to comply with this division. The county recorder and the county recorder’s employees are immune from liability in damages in a civil action brought against the county recorder or an employee of the county recorder to recover damages for any harm an individual allegedly sustains as a result of the county recorder or an employee of the county recorder accepting a document that includes the individual’s personal information in violation of this division, unless the county recorder or an employee of the county recorder accepted that document with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner, or division (A)(6)(a) or (c) of section 2744.03 of the Revised Code applies. (C) An individual who executes a document that must be filed by a preparer for recording in the office of the county recorder under section 317.08 of the Revised Code may execute an affidavit consenting to the inclusion of the individual’s personal information in the document. If an individual executes an affidavit consenting to the inclusion of the individual’s personal information in the document under this division, division (B) of this section does not apply to the preparer of the document or to the county recorder and the county recorder’s employees. (D) Division (B) of this section does not apply to any of the following: (1) Any document that originates with any court or taxing authority; (2) Any document that upon its filing for recording in the office of the county recorder under section 317.08 of the Revised Code constitutes a nonconsensual lien against an individual; (3) Any publicly recorded document that is required by federal or state law to include an individual’s social security number or personal information. (E) (1) This section does not apply to documents that were executed by an individual prior to September 28, 2006. (2) This section, as amended by this amendment, does not apply to documents that were executed by an individual on or after September 28, 2006, and prior to the effective date of this amendment. (F) As used in this section, “personal information” has the same meaning as in section 149.45 of the Revised Code.
See: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/317.082v1
The Bottom Line: If any individual were to be making public records of names, dates of birth, addresses and social security numbers – they would be charged and imprisoned. Let us go ahead and allow our submitters to submit social security numbers – we wouldn’t be here tomorrow folks. However, not so will be the case with the Elyria Municipal Courts. They have specific state provisions that remove them from any criminal or legal suits that could be presented against them. Scumbags…
SCUMBAGGED Tip: If your information and social security number is made public on the Elyria Court Docket or any other court docket, we urge you to call the courts immediately. Having your social security information available to the general public puts you at a greak risk to all sorts of fraudulent behavior. Individuals who wish to contact the Elyria Municipal court are urged to call 440-326-1800.
