Rule 37.6 - Prohibiting Access to Public Case Records(a)Limiting Access. Notwithstanding any other rule to the contrary, the court may, by order, limit access to public information in an open case file or a case file that has been closed for less than 90 days, or an individual record in one of those case files, only by (1) sealing or making confidential the entire case file, or (2) sealing or making confidential individual documents in or parts of the case file, which may include individual filings, log notes, the audio recording of proceedings in the case, the transcript of proceedings, or portions thereof. A request to limit access may be made by any person affected by the release of the information or on the court's own motion. The court may consider limiting access to information in a public case file only if the case is open or if the case file has been closed for less than 90 days; the court shall not limit access to all or portions of a case file that has been closed for 90 days or longer. For a case reopened 90 days or more after closing, the court may, by order, limit access only to public information that is filed or occurs after the date the case reopened. A case is not considered open under this subsection if the case was previously closed and later reopened solely because a motion or request under this subsection was filed.(b) Standard. The court may limit public access as described above if the court finds that the public interest in disclosure is outweighed by a legitimate interest in confidentiality, including but not limited to (1) risk of injury to individuals;(2) individual privacy rights and interests;(3) proprietary business information;(4) the deliberative process; or(5) public safety. To make a finding that a legitimate interest in confidentiality outweighs the public interest in disclosure under the standard in this subsection, the court must identify a basis for limiting access that is particular to the case being considered and that distinguishes the confidentiality interests of the persons affected by that case from the interests of persons affected by disclosure in similar case types, being mindful of the general public access provision in Administrative Rule 37.5(d).
(e)Public Index to Cases. This rule does not authorize a court to order a change to any entry in the index to cases or the public index of cases on the court system's website, unless the change is purely ministerial and is intended to correct a data entry error to ensure the index to cases accurately reflects the true filings and events as they actually occurred in the case.(c)Least Restrictive Alternative. In limiting public access the court must use the least restrictive means that will achieve the purposes of these public access rules and the reasonable needs as set out as the basis for the request, without unduly burdening the court.(d)Procedure. Any request to limit access must be made in writing to the court and served on all parties to the case unless otherwise ordered. A request to limit access, the response to such a request, and the order ruling on such a request must be written in a manner that does not disclose non-public information, are public records, and shall not themselves be sealed or made confidential.Adopted by SCO 1622 effective 10/15/2006; amended by SCO 1633 effective 5/15/2007; amended by SCO 1983 effective 10/17/2022. The terms "confidential" and "sealed" are defined in Administrative Rule 37.5(c).