Superior Court Order Allows Access to Parentage Records for Study

July 14, 2022

On July 14 the Superior Court of the District of Columbia issued Administrative Order 22-12  authorizing the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to inspect, compile, and analyze data and information from parentage records to conduct analysis for the District of Columbia Courts’ Racial Equity Project.

The NCSC may use the information described in the Restricted Data Use Agreement Between the D.C. Courts and NCSC and may share the results, but it shall not disclose this information to any other person or for any other purpose without prior approval of the D.C. Superior Court chief judge. Reports or final analyses shall not contain information that makes it possible to identify any party, witness, social worker, judicial officer, or other person mentioned in the parentage records.