Kern Superior Court Sealing & Redaction Procedures

The submitting party must redact personally identifying information as required by California Rules of Court, rule 1.201.

Additionally, pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 1.201, it is the submitting party's responsibility to redact personal identifying information as required by that rule.

Redaction compliance under rule 1.201 is additional to and does not replace WIC section 827 confidentiality requirements.

Compliance with rule 1.201 does not substitute for, and is in addition to, the confidentiality requirements of Welfare and Institutions Code section 827.

Information and documents released in immigration-status proceedings must remain confidential through sealing or another confidential-filing procedure.

Any information or documents released in the context of such proceedings must maintain the confidentiality of the information or documents, such as filing them under seal or in confidential filings.

Filing parties and attorneys must exclude or redact personal data identifiers from all documents and exhibits filed with the court.

Further, it is the sole responsibility of the filing parties and filing attorneys to exclude or redact personal data identifiers from all documents, including exhibits, filed with the court, as described in California Rules of Court, rules 1.201 and 2.256.

Documents that must be kept confidential by law should be designated confidential in the electronic filing system and marked confidential in the caption.

In order to ensure immediate confidentiality upon electronic filing, the filing parties and filing attorneys shall designate documents that are required to be kept confidential by law as such by selecting “confidential” in the security field on the filing details prompt in the Court’s electronic filing system. The document should also include the word “confidential” in the caption.

Parties and their attorneys are responsible for properly redacting personally identifiable, confidential, or privileged information from filed documents; the Clerk will not review compliance, and violations may be sanctioned.

Parties and their attorneys are solely responsible for ensuring that personally identifiable, confidential, or privileged information is properly redacted from filed documents where redaction is necessary. The Clerk's office will not review documents for compliance with redaction requirements. The Court may impose sanctions for any violations of this rule.

After a criminal jury verdict, attorneys must isolate jurors’ identifying information, erase electronic records, place the printouts in separate envelopes, and keep the envelopes sealed until further court order.

As directed by the Judge after a criminal jury’s verdict is recorded, attorneys are required to collect and place any personal identifying information of trial jurors from their notes into separate envelopes. This includes any information stored electronically. Counsel must print out the electronic information, erase the electronic records, and include the printouts in the envelopes. These envelopes are to be sealed and held until further order of the Court.

A party seeking to file or present a juvenile case or child welfare agency document or record must first request permission to file the material under seal.

Any party who seeks to file with or present to the Family Court any juvenile case or child welfare agency document or record must first present a request to file such documents under seal.

The person filing a confidential juvenile or child welfare document must redact confidential information or use the Confidential List of Identifiers form.

It is the responsibility of the person filing the document to redact confidential information or to utilize the Confidential List of Identifiers form pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 1.201.

Rule 6.19 filings are confidential before disposition and sealed after disposition; parties generally need court leave to obtain information, but specified participants or counsel may obtain the final order after verifying identification.

(h) Filings under this section shall be deemed confidential as provided by their respective statutory authority. Prior to case disposition, only parties allowed by Statute may obtain case information. Following case disposition, the matter shall be deemed sealed, and no information shall be provided to parties or those affected within the case without obtaining leave of Court. The exception to this rule: Petitioners/Citee/Adoptive Parent(s) or their respective counsel may obtain a copy of the Final Order upon verification of Identification.

The guardianship questionnaires are confidential, are excluded from the public record, and may be released to a party or attorney only by court order.

Although pertinent information provided on the Guardianship Questionnaire (Form KRN SUP CRT PB-8524) and the Guardianship Termination Objection Questionnaire (Form KRN SUP CRT PB-8525) may be shared with other parties during the investigation, the forms themselves contain personal identifiers and are confidential. The forms will not become part of the public record. The forms shall not be released to any party or their attorney without a court order.

Family Court Services must maintain the confidential guardianship questionnaires so their confidentiality is protected and preserved.

Family Court Services must maintain these forms in a manner that will protect and preserve their confidentiality.

A proposed guardian's reported abuse or neglect allegations and criminal history must be submitted in a confidential supplemental report that is released only by court order.

(l) A proposed guardian’s history of allegations of abuse or neglect reported by official agencies and any criminal history shall be submitted to the court in a confidential supplemental report and will be released to the parties and/or counsel only if ordered by the court.

Counsel must print electronically held juror information, erase the electronic version, and surrender the printouts to court assistants.

Any electronically held information with jurors' personal information shall be printed out by counsel, the electronic information erased, and the printouts collected by the Judicial Courtroom Assistants.

Each party’s juror-information envelope must be sealed by court order and filed as a separate court exhibit to preserve the record.

There shall be an envelope for each party which are sealed, upon court order, and designated as separate Court Exhibits in order to properly preserve the record.

The submitting party must redact confidential information so that it is not publicly displayed.

Pursuant to CRC, rule 1.201, it is the submitting party’s responsibility to redact confidential information (social security number, caregiver’s address, etc.) so that the information shall not be publicly displayed.

Access to juvenile case-file documents by verified court investigators is subject to exclusion or redaction of privileged or confidential information.

DHS shall allow court investigators, upon verification of employment and assignment to investigate a guardianship or family law matter under the jurisdiction of the Probate or Family Court, to inspect and receive copies of juvenile case file documents and information maintained by DHS or included in CWS/CMS pertaining to the child or to any history of alleged child abuse or neglect by the child's guardian or prospective guardian, the child's prospective adoptive parent, parent, caretaker, or proposed caretaker, and any other adults residing in the same household as the guardian, prospective guardian, prospective adoptive parent, parent, caretaker, or proposed caretaker, subject to exclusion or redaction of documents that are or contain privileged or confidential information pursuant to any other state or federal law or regulation.

Court investigators participating in probate guardianship or family law matters may receive qualifying OHS records only subject to exclusion or redaction of privileged or confidential information.

OHS shall allow court investigators assigned to and actively participating in a probate guardianship or family law matter to receive copies of OHS files and records relating to any child who is the subject of OHS records if the records relate to a history of alleged child abuse or neglect by the child's guardian or prospective guardian, the child's prospective adoptive parent, parent, caretaker, or proposed caretaker, or any other adults residing in the same household as the guardian, prospective guardian, prospective adoptive parent, parent, caretaker, or proposed caretaker, subject to exclusion or redaction of documents that are or contain privileged or confidential information pursuant to any other state or federal law or regulation.

At the judge’s direction, court assistants must collect attorneys’ notes containing jurors’ personal information and place them in separate labeled envelopes.

The Judicial Courtroom Assistants, upon the direction of the Judge, are to collect from the attorneys any notes containing jurors' personal information (jury ladders, notes, etc.) and place the information into separate labeled envelopes.