Amador Superior Court Sealing & Redaction Procedures

CRITICAL

Materials submitted for filing under seal must be transmitted securely, and both the materials and their envelope or container must be labeled “CONDITIONALLY UNDER SEAL.”

Documents submitted for filing under seal must be transmitted to the court in a secure manner that preserves the confidentiality of the records to be lodged. The materials to be lodged under seal must be clearly identified as “CONDITIONALLY UNDER SEAL.” The envelope or container lodged with the court must also be labeled “CONDITIONALLY UNDER SEAL.”

CRITICAL

Applications and supporting declarations must be marked Confidential and kept in a confidential section of the court file.

The application and supporting declarations shall be marked "Confidential," and shall be kept in a confidential section of the Court file.

CRITICAL

Listed evaluator-related records are confidential and unavailable for inspection through the evaluator unless a party obtains a court order; they cease to be confidential to the extent disclosed or otherwise made discoverable.

The following documents are deemed to be confidential and are not available for inspection by the parties or their attorneys through the evaluator: CII records, medical reports; mental health professionals’ reports; drug test analysis; restricted law enforcement reports; mediation discussions; NCADD (National Council of Alcohol and Drug Dependence) reports, and any Alcohol and Drug Program report. Parties seeking to inspect such reports must petition the court for an order permitting such inspection. To the extent that the contents of such records have been disclosed in another manner, or have otherwise been made discoverable, such documents will no longer be deemed confidential.

CRITICAL

Jurors’ addresses and telephone numbers in criminal proceedings are conditionally sealed upon discharge, with an access petition process requiring notice to affected jurors and an opportunity to oppose unsealing.

The addresses and telephone numbers of jurors in any criminal jury proceeding are deemed conditionally sealed at the time the jury is discharged, as to persons other than court employees on official business, subject to any person petitioning the court for access to these records. If a petition for access to juror personal identifying information is received, the court shall give all potentially affected jurors at least ten days notice of the hearing date and an opportunity to oppose the unsealing of juror personal identifying information.

CRITICAL

The court will not redact victims’ or witnesses’ confidential personal information; agencies preparing and presenting documents bear the burden of ensuring that information is not included.

All agencies should bear in mind that the court will not undertake the task of redacting any confidential personal information of victims or witnesses from documents submitted for the court’s consideration. Rather, the burden to ensure that this information is not included within any documents presented falls squarely on the agencies preparing and presenting them to the court.

WARNING

Capacity declarations on Form GC 335 are confidential.

All capacity declarations (Form GC 335) are deemed confidential.

WARNING

Documents submitted for filing which are required to be kept confidential pursuant to statute or court order, must contain the work “CONFIDENTIAL” in bold caps directly beneath the document title and should be filed under seal under the provisions set forth in rule 2.551 of the California Rules of Court.

Documents submitted for filing which are required to be kept confidential pursuant to statute or court order, must contain the work “CONFIDENTIAL” in bold caps directly beneath the document title and should be filed under seal under the provisions set forth in rule 2.551 of the California Rules of Court.

WARNING

A CASA volunteer’s personnel file is confidential and accessible only to the listed people, but personnel records remain subject to the court’s subpoena power.

CASA volunteer's personnel file is confidential under rule 5.655. No one shall have access to the file or any of its contents, except the volunteer, the CASA Program Director, and the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court. A volunteer's personnel records, however, are subject to the court's subpoena power.

INFO

Instead of declarations, parties may submit police, arrest, or investigative reports if all victims’ and witnesses’ confidential personal information is redacted.

In the alternative to providing declarations to the court, the parties may submit copies of police reports, arrest reports or investigative reports that are redacted of all “confidential personal information” of victims and/or witnesses.