Rule 45 - Court Records - Public Access(A) Presumption of public access Court records are presumed open to public access.
(B) Direct access(1) A court or clerk of court shall make a court record available by direct access, promptly acknowledge any person's request for direct access, and respond to the request within a reasonable amount of time.(2) Except for a request for bulk distribution pursuant to Sup. R. 46, a court or clerk of court shall permit a requestor to have a court record duplicated upon paper, upon the same medium upon which the court or clerk keeps it, or upon any other medium the court or clerk determines it can be reasonably duplicated as an integral part of its normal operations.(3) A court or clerk of court shall mail, transmit, or deliver copies of a requested court record to the requestor within a reasonable time from the request, provided the court or clerk may adopt a policy allowing it to limit the number of court records it will mail, transmit, or deliver per month, unless the requestor certifies in writing that the requestor does not intend to use or forward the records, or the information contained in them, for commercial purposes. For purposes of this division, "commercial" shall be narrowly construed and does not include news reporting, the gathering of information to assist citizens in the understanding of court activities, or nonprofit educational research.(4) A court or clerk of court may charge its actual costs incurred in responding to a request for direct access to a court record. The court or clerk may require a deposit of the estimated actual costs.(C) Remote access(1) A court or clerk of court may offer remote access to a court record. If a court or clerk offers remote access to a court record and the record is also available by direct access, the version of the record available through remote access shall be identical to the version of the record available by direct access, provided the court or clerk may exclude an exhibit or attachment that is part of the record if the court or clerk includes notice that the exhibit or attachment exists and is available by direct access.(2) Nothing in division (C)(1) of this rule shall be interpreted as requiring a court or clerk of court offering remote access to a case document in a case file to offer remote access to other case documents in that case file.(3) Nothing in division (C)(1) of this rule shall be interpreted as prohibiting a court or clerk of court from making available on a website any court record that exists only in electronic form, including an on-line journal or register of actions.(D) Omission of personal identifiers prior to submission or filing(1) When submitting a case document to a court or filing a case document with a clerk of court, a party to a judicial action or proceeding shall omit personal identifiers from the document.(2) When personal identifiers are omitted from a case document submitted to a court or filed with a clerk of court pursuant to division (D)(1) of this rule, the party shall submit or file that information on a separate form. The court or clerk may provide a standard form for parties to use. Redacted or omitted personal identifiers shall be provided to the court or clerk upon request or a party to the judicial action or proceeding upon motion.(3) The responsibility for omitting personal identifiers from a case document submitted to a court or filed with a clerk of court pursuant to division (D)(1) of this rule shall rest solely with the party. The court or clerk is not required to review the case document to confirm that the party has omitted personal identifiers, and shall not refuse to accept or file the document on that basis.(E) Restricting public access to a case document(1) Any party to a judicial action or proceeding or other person who is the subject of information in a case document may, by written motion to the court, request that the court restrict public access to the information or, if necessary, the entire document. Additionally, the court may restrict public access to the information in the case document or, if necessary, the entire document upon its own order. The court shall give notice of the motion or order to all parties in the case. The court may schedule a hearing on the motion.(2) A court shall restrict public access to information in a case document or, if necessary, the entire document, if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the presumption of allowing public access is outweighed by a higher interest after considering each of the following:(a) Whether public policy is served by restricting public access;(b) Whether any state, federal, or common law exempts the document or information from public access;(c) Whether factors that support restriction of public access exist, including risk of injury to persons, individual privacy rights and interests, proprietary business information, public safety, and fairness of the adjudicatory process.(3) When restricting public access to a case document or information in a case document pursuant to this division, the court shall use the least restrictive means available, including but not limited to the following: (a) Redacting the information rather than limiting public access to the entire document;(b) Restricting remote access to either the document or the information while maintaining its direct access;(c) Restricting public access to either the document or the information for a specific period of time;(d) Using a generic title or description for the document or the information in a case management system or register of actions;(e) Using initials or other identifier for the parties' proper names.(4) If a court orders the redaction of information in a case document pursuant to this division, a redacted version of the document shall be filed in the case file along with a copy of the court's order. If a court orders that the entire case document be restricted from public access, a copy of the court's order shall be filed in the case file. A journal entry shall reflect the court's order. Case documents ordered restricted from public access or information in documents ordered redacted shall not be available for public access and shall be maintained separately in the case file.(F) Obtaining access to a case document that has been granted restricted public access(1) Any person, by written motion to the court, may request access to a case document or information in a case document that has been granted restricted public access pursuant to division (E) of this rule. The court shall give notice of the motion to all parties in the case and, where possible, to the non-party person who requested that public access be restricted. The court may schedule a hearing on the motion.(2) A court may permit public access to a case document or information in a case document if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the presumption of allowing public access is no longer outweighed by a higher interest. When making this determination, the court shall consider whether the original reason for the restriction of public access to the case document or information in the case document pursuant to division (E) of this rule no longer exists or is no longer applicable and whether any new circumstances, as set forth in that division, have arisen which would require the restriction of public access.