San Francisco Superior Court Sealing & Redaction Procedures

A motion to seal and related papers must be electronically filed, with redacted and conditionally sealed unredacted documents filed in the same transaction.

In all Designated Cases, a motion to file documents under seal and all related papers must be E-Filed. The redacted and un-redacted (conditionally sealed) documents must be E-Filed in the same transaction.

Counsel and parties are solely responsible for redacting personal identifiers and privileged or confidential information, and the clerk does not review filings for compliance.

The responsibility for redacting personal identifiers and privileged or confidential information rests solely with counsel and the parties. The Clerk will not review each pleading or other paper for compliance. The Court may impose sanctions for violation of these requirements.

Police, arrest, and investigative reports attached to court filings must be redacted before filing, and the court will reject and not treat as timely filed documents that omit the required redactions.

Any person attaching police reports, arrest reports, and investigative reports attached to any document filed with the Court must redact information as listed below, before the document is filed. The Court will not file documents without the required redaction. Any document or report that is refused for filing for failure to comply with this order is not considered filed for the purpose of a filing deadline. The information that must be redacted is: driver license and identification card numbers; dates of birth; social security numbers; names and birth dates of victims and witnesses; addresses and phone numbers of victims and witnesses; financial institution account numbers and credit card numbers; Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) records and data.

The proposed sealing request must be highlighted in yellow in the unredacted documents accompanying a motion to seal.

For motions to seal (and accompanied unredacted versions of documents conditionally lodged under seal with the Court), the parties must highlight in yellow the proposed sealing request in the unredacted documents.

Sealing motions must comply with California Rules of Court 2.550–2.551 and include specific findings; these requirements do not apply to discovery motions but apply to other motions.

Regarding motions to seal, the Court reminds counsel to follow California Rules of Court, rules 2.550-2.551. Please read Overstock.Com, Inc. v. Goldman Sachs Grp., Inc. (2014) 231 Cal.App.4th 471. The Court is required to follow the California Rules of Court and make specific findings. These requirements do not apply to discovery motions but do apply to all other types of motions.

The sealing filing must include both the redacted version and the conditionally sealed unredacted version.

The redacted and un-redacted (conditionally sealed) documents must be E-Filed in the same transaction.

Counsel and parties are solely responsible for redacting personal identifiers and privileged or confidential information, and the court may impose sanctions for violations.

The responsibility for redacting personal identifiers and privileged or confidential information rests solely with counsel and the parties. The Clerk will not review each pleading or other paper for compliance. The Court may impose sanctions for violation of these requirements.

Account numbers should be redacted under CRC 1.201 unless the filing is submitted confidentially in a guardianship or conservatorship case.

Unless filed confidentially in a guardianship or conservatorship case, account numbers should be redacted as set forth in CRC 1.201.

Declarations supporting a Special Immigrant Juvenile Findings petition on form GC-220 must be marked Confidential and filed under Code of Civil Procedure section 155(c).

Declarations in support of a Petition for Special Immigrant Juvenile Findings (GC-220) must be marked “Confidential” and filed pursuant to CCP §155(c).

Police, arrest, and investigative reports attached to court filings must be redacted before filing, and the Court will refuse documents lacking the required redaction.

Any person attaching police reports, arrest reports, and investigative reports attached to any document filed with the Court must redact information as listed below, before the document is filed. The Court will not file documents without the required redaction.

Counsel must follow the sealed-record rules and avoid overbroad or improper sealing motions.

Counsel must comply with the sealed record rules, California Rules of Court rules 2.550–2.551, and avoid overbroad and improper motions to seal.

Unredacted documents lodged under seal must be highlighted to identify the proposed redactions.

When materials are lodged under seal, the unredacted versions of documents shall be highlighted to show the proposed redactions that the party moving to seal is requesting.

Deposition transcripts and similar illustrations must use different highlight colors to distinguish sections for the court from sections proposed for redaction.

Deposition transcripts or other illustrations (such as for a summary judgment motion) shall use different highlighting colors for those sections designated for the court’s consideration and those identified for proposed redaction.

Account numbers should be redacted under CRC 1.201 unless the account is filed confidentially in a guardianship or conservatorship case.

Unless filed confidentially in a guardianship or conservatorship case, account numbers should be redacted as set forth in CRC 1.201.

Redacted and conditionally sealed unredacted versions must be filed electronically in the same transaction.

The redacted and un-redacted (conditionally sealed) documents must be E-Filed in the same transaction.

Counsel and parties alone are responsible for redacting personal identifiers and privileged or confidential information; the Clerk does not review filings for redaction compliance, and sanctions may be imposed.

The responsibility for redacting personal identifiers and privileged or confidential information rests solely with counsel and the parties. The Clerk will not review each pleading or other paper for compliance. The Court may impose sanctions for violation of these requirements.

The court will place the JV-535 in a confidential envelope only when the safety-risk disclosure box is checked.

The Court will file the JV-535 in a confidential envelope only if the box which indicates that disclosure will create a safety risk is checked.

At a private-surety bail hearing, counsel must provide a proposed sealing order and a case-caption-marked envelope containing the surety's private financial and identifying information.

Counsel for any defendant seeking a bail undertaking by private surety must provide the Court at the time of the hearing with a proposed sealing order for the surety or sureties’ private financial information and/or personal identifying information, and counsel must also provide an envelope marked with the case caption for those documents.

Police, arrest, and investigative reports must have specified identifying, financial, victim, witness, and CORI information redacted before filing, and a noncompliant filing will be rejected and will not count as filed for a deadline.

Any person attaching police reports, arrest reports, and investigative reports attached to any document filed with the Court must redact information as listed below, before the document is filed. The Court will not file documents without the required redaction. Any document or report that is refused for filing for failure to comply with this order is not considered filed for the purpose of a filing deadline. The information that must be redacted is: driver license and identification card numbers; dates of birth; social security numbers; names and birth dates of victims and witnesses; addresses and phone numbers of victims and witnesses; financial institution account numbers and credit card numbers; Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) records and data.

The Court will place the JV-535 in a confidential envelope only when the safety-risk disclosure box is checked.

The Court will file the JV-535 in a confidential envelope only if the box which indicates that disclosure will create a safety risk is checked.

Absent unusual circumstances, the court will not seal records solely because the parties agree to the sealing.

Consistent with rule 2.551(a), absent unusual circumstances, the court will not seal records based solely on the agreement of the parties, such as individual settlement agreements in putative class actions.

Confidential portions of an unredacted document should be highlighted or grayscaled to distinguish them from non-confidential information.

The confidential portions of an unredacted document should be highlighted (e.g. grayscaled) to assist the judge in differentiating between what is considered confidential information and what is considered non-confidential information.