The Opposition Research Training Blog

IRS Makes Verifying Exempt Status Easier

Locating information about exempt organizations has gotten a little easier with the introduction of Select Check by the Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Section. Select Check allows users to search for exempt organizations found in IRS Publication 78, smaller organizations filing a 990-N, and those organizations automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years, all in one place. The search engine defaults to finding any search terms in a search string, so place the organization’s name in quotes to save time.

How to Search Virginia Court Records

The first thing you need to know is that not all Virginia court records are online and not all records are found in the online indexes. Many courts allow access through the Virginia Supreme Court’s online case management system. Some, like Prince William County and Fairfax County Circuit Courts have opted for their own systems. The Prince William County Circuit Court system is free; Fairfax County Circuit Court offers paid subscription access only. The majority of circuit court systems can be accessed through the Virginia Supreme Court’s online system. Three Circuit Courts, King and Queen County, Henrico County, and Chesterfield County offer no online access and require a search at the courthouse.

All 125 general district courts offer searching online through the General District Court online case management system. It is important to remember that not all district court cases are found in the online index. Cases handled by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (JDR) are not available online.

Juvenile and Domestic Courts hear cases involving both juveniles and adults. Information related to most juvenile cases is not public. Adults charged with offenses against children, family or household members will have their preliminary hearing in JDR court. If there is probably cause, and the defendant is charged with a felony, the case is transferred to Circuit Court where the name will be found in the Circuit Court index. If the charge is a less serious offense the trial will be in JDR court. A juvenile 14 years or older at the time of a felony offense may have their case transferred to Circuit Court by a judge after a probable cause hearing and written notice. If the 14 year old is charged with murder or aggravated malicious wounding the case is automatically certified to the circuit court.

Cases involving spouses seeking support after separation, modification of custody, visitation and support are all heard by JRD courts. To search a name in a JDR court index call the Juvenile and Domestic Court Clerk’s Office. They will search the name over the phone; they do not require you to come to the court to search.

“Docket in Your Pocket” Smartphone App

Attorney Matt Haindfield has come up with a great application that allows users to search court dockets with your smartphone. The Docket in Your Pocket program runs on the Android and iPhone operating systems and is available through the Android Market and the Apple App Store. The program currently offers docket information for the state of Pennsylvania.

The company launched the app on October 24^th with plans to add more states in the coming months. Haindfield says that in states where not all courts are available online the company will make an effort to obtain docket information directly from the court and integrate it into the program. This will ensure users are getting the widest possible coverage from their search.

One of the biggest problems faced by data aggregators today is marketing around the limitations of the data. The Internet is ripe with web pages offering nationwide criminal checks where there is no such thing. Some sites offer searches they claim are statewide but fail to identify non-participating courts or bury this information in super fine print that is rarely seen. The consumer is left believing their search covered all state courts when it has not.

Haindfield says that as each state is added to the program the user guide will be updated to reflect the parameters of the dataset. The user will know any limitations the search has with regard to how far back the index goes, the type of cases indexed, and the date the index was made available through the app. This is valuable information for opposition researchers as they prepare their reports identifying searches and sources. If a court index was last updated 15 or 30 days ago the researcher may elect to make the additional effort to go to the court and check the most up-to-date index.

The Quickest Way to Find Property Information in Prince William County Virginia

The search for property information in Prince William County is easy using the county’s QuickInfo web page. The results page indicates if the property is residential or commercial. Also shown on the results page is the owner, school information, and voting information if it is a residential property. There are two quick links to view property tax information and a map of the parcel.

PACER Fee Increase

The Judicial Conference on standards and procedures announced a fee increase for PACER access:

The Conference . . . authorized an increase in the Judiciary’s electronic public access fee in response to increasing costs for maintaining and enhancing the electronic public access system. The increase in the electronic public access (EPA) fee, from $.08 to $.10 per page, is needed to continue to support and improve the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, and to develop and implement the next generation of the Judiciary’s Case Management/Electronic Case Filing system.

A 25% increase sounds like a big deal but accessing federal court filings and downloading them as a PDF remotely is still the best deal in town.

United States Tax Court

Opposition researchers should always check US Tax Court for cases involving the candidate or their businesses. Keep in mind US Tax Court records are not part of the PACER system. A search can be done online at court's Docket Inquiry web page.

Once you locate a case call the Clerk's office at 202-521-0700 and request a copy of the file. Case files are held by the court for 18 months from the date the case was closed. If the case went to trial, or was deemed significant in some way by the court, the case file is sent to the Archives. Copy work is handled by a contractor and not by court staff. The Clerk's office will take your information and promise to have someone from the copy work section call you within three to five days. Copy work staff will call with the cost of your request, the expected trun around time, and instructions on how to pay for your order. If you do not get a call within three days call the main line for the company handling the copy work at 202-521-4688.

Archived cases must be ordered through US Tax Court and cannot be ordered online through the Archives web page like other federal court cases. There is an additional charge of $25 to retrieve a case file from the Archives. Like other federal court cases held by the Archives, US Tax Court case files are schedule for destruction after 20 years. The destruction process is about two years behind right now so you may still be able to get case files from as far back as 1989.

Governor’s Cell Phone Records Not Public

In 2008 The Denver Post requested access to the phone records of former Gov. Bill Ritter under the Colorado Open Records Act. Ritter turned over bills for his state phone but refused to turn over his personal cell phone records.

The state Supreme Court ruling ended a three-year battle over the public’s right to inspect Ritter’s personal cell phone records yesterday. The Court ruled the Denver Post failed to show the records are public as defined under state law. Politicians using their personal cell phones and e-mail as a way of evading disclosure requirements has always been a concern.

Crowd-Sourcing Opposition Research

Crossroads GPS has launched Wikicountability.org a project to crowd-source investigations of the Obama administration by collecting government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

It will be very interesting to see how productive this approach becomes. Getting citizens interesting in contributing is easy, keeping them in the fight will be a challenge. First time FOIA requesters have little understanding of difficulty in prying documents from the government.

It is easy for requesters to loose interest after nine months of waiting for a simple reply from an agency. Requests are often abandoned entirely once a requester learns the costs associated with the request and that agencies rarely waive fees for requesters who are not media representatives.

Utah Legislature repeals HB477

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Legislature voted in a special session Friday to repeal House Bill 477, the bill that redefined and narrowed Utah's open records law.

via www.standard.net

After a lot of back and forth between the House and the Senate, legislators voted to repeal HB477. This is not the end of this by any means. The original sponsors of the bill have learned that by trying to do everything in one bill they drew to much attention to the process. I predict that by this time next year the basic premise of HB477 will be in place having been fashioned though a series of smaller bills designed to chip away at the open records laws in Utah.

Controversial bill on hold - The Vernal Express

Gov. Gary Herbert signed HB477 into law Tuesday night after the Legislature recalled the bill and changed its effective date to July 1. Herbert released the following statement after signing the bill:

"With HB477 now amended, the delayed implementation date allows us to have an open public process with robust, deliberate engagement by the public, the media and lawmakers. Our goal is open and transparent government. This bill provides a way to find the right balance between the public's right to know and the personal privacy of both constituents and policymakers, while protecting taxpayer dollars.”

via www.vernal.com

HB477 would exempt from disclosure text messages, voice mails, instant messages and video chats under Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act. The original story was about how the bill has been held back for further consideration. The update shows that when presented with the bill Gov. Herbert signed it last night despite the public uproar over the lack of transparency it would bring.