Thank you for your explanation of your interpretation.  However, it is legally flawed.  First, you (and all of us) have been authorized to access public records by the various Public Records Acts.  However, we aren't addressing the issue of whether you have the right to access the public records.  Here, we are dealing with your authorization to access this particular government computer for the ultimate purpose of accessing the public records.  Although the government may not deny us access to public records, they can restrict access; e.g. to the open hours of the custodian of the records.  I can't go to the courthouse at midnight and demand to be let in to access the public records.

Second, your post indicates that this particular site limits access to 20 documents.

This is nice except for the limits the county places on downloads of document images.  They seem to allow unlimited searches of the online index, however, they limit to 20, the number of images that can be pulled up in a single day. 

This seems to indicate to me that they have authorized the public to use their online system in a limited way.  Using it beyond that, is "exceeding authorization."  As the statute clearly states, exceeding the authorized use of a state computer system is a felony - computer tampering.  As I said before, whether they would take such a violation serious enough to prosecute is another matter altogether, but, technically, I believe that it is a violation of the statute.

The real issue here seems to be whether the state has the right to limit access to their online public records.  I don't have any doubt that they do, but you probably wouldn't agree.  You seem to generally deny that the government has any authority to interfere with anything you want to do. 

And, just to clarify... I never admitted to not looking into this.  I took the time to quote the statute for you.  Beyond that, this is really a case of the plain meaning of the statute.  Apparently, we don't agree on what that is.

Best,
Robert A. Franco
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