Consistent with the mission of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), requests from the state court community who include:

• state appellate and trial court judges and court staff, and

• state court administrators and staff.

are the primary customers of NCSC and the first priority of Knowledge Information Services (KIS) services.  Such constituents will be served without charge.

As a general rule, KIS  also will provide assistance without charge if such service is in the interest of the state courts or the NCSC.  Court-related requests from state legislative and executive personnel; local officials; national, state, and local bar associations; the news media; and other research organizations will usually meet these criteria. 

Because the state charge assessments are critical to funding KIS work, any state that has not paid their yearly state assessment will not be eligible for KIS’s assistance or eligible to borrow materials directly from the NCSC library.

Requesters who are not employed by the state courts may be subject to charges at the discretion of KIS.  These requesters are informed in advance of service, if there will be any charges.

Private attorneys, consultants, members of the academic community, and international requesters are assisted on a fee-for-service basis unless they can demonstrate that they are members of one of the court organizations that NCSC serves (e.g., the National Association for Court Management or the American Judges Association) or are working on a task force or project within a state justice system, or can demonstrate a connection to the court community.

KIS  reserves the right to decline service to those outside the state court community if such service is perceived to be contrary to the interests of the state courts or the National Center. The volume of KIS’s commitments to the state court community may make it impossible KIS’s staff to take on requests that do not serve our constituents.

Fees and Charges (Subject to Change)

Research time is currently charged at $125 per hour.

Administrative time is currently charged at $50 per hour.

Photocopying is assessed at 20 cents per page.

Fax Charge is assessed at $1.00 per page.

On-line expenses for research on databases are assessed as closely as possible to the actual cost to KIS, as are expenses associated with postage and telecommunications (phone and fax).

For requesters who are required and willing to pay for our services, KIS will attempt to provide an estimate of costs in advance of service or will agree to provide assistance up to an agreed expense level. The department may require payment in advance. KIS cannot guarantee that it will be able to find information in response to all requests.