Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County Sealing & Redaction Procedures

To file a document under seal under A.R.Civ.P. 5.4, the party must e-file a motion to seal, submit a proposed sealing order in Word format through eFile, lodge the document at the Clerk's filing counter, and simultaneously email an electronic copy to Division staff.

When seeking to file a document under seal pursuant to A.R.Civ.P. 5.4, the filing party must: (i) e-file a motion to file the document under seal; (ii) submit a proposed form of Order sealing the document in Word format through the eFile system; and (iii) lodge the document to be sealed at the Clerk's filing counter. The proposed Order sealing the document must specifically identify the document by title and date of lodging and contain the findings required by A.R.Civ.P. 5.4. The filing party also must simultaneously email an electronic copy of the document proposed to be sealed to the Division's staff. If the Court grants the motion to seal, the Clerk's Office will file the lodged document under seal.

Sealed filings or information requiring in-camera inspection must also be delivered to the Division.

If e-filing anything under seal, or information requiring in-camera inspection, a copy should be delivered to my Division or it may not be accessible.

Requests to file under seal must comply with ARCP 5.4(d-e), including lodging the request in paper form per 5.4(e)(2).

All requests to file a pleading or document under seal must comply with Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure 5.4, including, but not limited to Subsections (d-e). The Division requires compliance with 5.4(e)(2) regarding the lodging the request to file documents under seal being provided in paper form so the Court may properly consider the request.

Files may be sealed when justified, but sealing should be avoided unless absolutely necessary because it impedes access.

A file may be placed under seal when justified, but because this makes access difficult for all involved, it should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Sealed filings are discouraged and require a significant reason.

Filings under seal are discouraged. There must be a significant reason to shield records from public view and to create administrative hardships for court access via such designation.

Filings under seal are discouraged and will be ordered only as a last resort.

Filings under seal are discouraged, simply because it makes file access difficult for the Court, and the parties. This Court will place a file under seal as a last resort.

Sensitive documents are typically filed as confidential documents rather than sealing the entire file.

I avoid placing an entire file under seal. However, I typically will file documents that pertain to sensitive matters as confidential documents, which allows the parties, their counsel, and court staff to have access to the documents while protecting them from disclosure to the general public.