From the aw-c’mon-already-folks dept., Cynthia M. Ellis reports:
Officials said they are changing how they dispose of public records after court documents were found in a recycling bin earlier this week behind the Madison County Wood River Facility.
A Telegraph reporter received information Monday night about files found in an open bin behind the county complex. The reporter found hundreds of the court records plainly visible, lying on top of a heap of paper materials inside an open recycling container behind the facility.
The documents were in manila folders filled with order of protection records and information that was filed with the Circuit Clerk’s Office. The files on top were from 2007.
The records contained names of victims, including minors, date of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, detailed accounts of why an order of protection was needed and Social Security numbers. Within hours of The Telegraph contacting officials about the records, the bin was emptied.
Read more on The Telegraph.
Update: the files reportedly sat there for weeks, but the court doesn’t see a problem because the files would have been open to public inspection inside the building anyway.
“What are you doing today, Tom?”
“Oh, I thought I’d just mosy down to the courthouse to write down some SSN’s and sensitive info available to public inspection.”
Gah….