The Tennessee Appellate Court Clerk’s Office confirmed last week that it was impacted by a “cybersecurity incident” disclosed by Thomson Reuters, the parent company of West Publishing, which owns the C-Track case management system used by appellate courts in the Volunteer State.
In an article published on the Reuters website, Thomson Reuters acknowledged “an unauthorized third party obtained” access to certain files in its C-Track case management platform in 11 states, including Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Wyoming, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Parts of Canada were also impacted, and West Publishing has advised Oregonians to “report any suspected identity theft” to local, state, and federal authorities, but did not include the state among those whose files were accessed during the incident.
The unauthorized access occurred sometime between March 1 and 16, and the company became aware of the incident on June 30. According to the Tennessee Appellate Court Clerk’s Office, local officials were not informed until July 27. The clerk’s office said the unauthorized access incident “did not impact the integrity or functionality” of Tennessee’s systems.
A website created by West Publishing, which contains more information about the incident, states the company’s investigation indicated that private information may have been compromised.
This includes records that may contain a Social Security number, driver’s license number, medical information, date of birth, or health insurance information. The compromised files may also contain sealed, confidential, or redacted court information, according to West Publishing.
Despite the breach, the company said it found “no evidence that the incident has led to any fraud or misuse of information to date,” through its efforts.
The company is providing subscriptions to IdentityWorks, an identity theft monitoring and fraud resolution service from Experian, a credit reporting agency.
Officials in Wyoming have confirmed names, addresses, and dates of birth were compromised, while those in Montana said driver’s license numbers and dates of birth were both among those files accessed by an unauthorized party.
The incident comes months after a Tennessee man pleaded guilty to hacking the U.S. Supreme Court’s electronic filing system.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
