Rep. Steve Driehaus wants to limit the amount of information on the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Web page.

        A Democratic state lawmaker from Price Hill, Mr. Driehaus says Social Security numbers and other personal financial information should be removed from case files posted on the Internet to protect against identity theft.

        That idea doesn't sit well with Clerk of Courts Jim Cissell, who said it would cost millions of dollars and untold hours to strike information from the 5 million pages of court files his office processes each year.

        Mr. Driehaus will make his case before Hamilton County commissioners at today's meeting.

        “Anyone can go down to the clerk's office and pull one of those files,” Mr. Driehaus said. “But I'm not comfortable with a guy sitting in his basement in Reno, swigging a beer, writing down Social Security numbers provided by the clerk of the court.

        “Just because it's a public record doesn't mean it has to be widely distributed.”

        Mr. Cissell said his staff does not read the pages that are posted to the Internet. State and federal law, he says, dictates which files are open to public inspection and which are not.

        There are problems, Mr. Cissell said, but Social Security numbers being posted to the Internet are the least of them.

        “When you cut through everything, friends, neighbors and co-workers want to know what they earn, who they woo and things of a more intimate nature,” Mr. Cissell said. “That sort of information probably shouldn't be public in the paper file.”

        Mr. Cissell said testimony in juvenile cases should also be restricted. His office will make a recommendation to legislators by summer on the best approach to the problem.

        Commissioner Todd Portune asked Mr. Driehaus to make a presentation to the commission.

        “It's an issue of growing concern to citizens who value access to information but have legitimate expectations of privacy,” Mr. Portune said. “I'd like to see him and our clerk work cooperatively and fashion an approach that safeguards our citizens.”

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