16th Judicial Circuit Court, Kane County, Illinois Sealing & Redaction Procedures

Juror-related court documents containing identifying information are impounded after jury trials; accessing such documents requires filing a petition with good cause.

Source text: 4.06 SEALING OF JUROR RELATED COURT DOCUMENTS (a) At the completion of all jury trials, the judge shall provide to the clerk the judge’s juror profiles, juror list(s), and any signed verdict forms. In one envelope, the clerk shall insert the juror profiles, juror list(s), and any juror seating chart prepared by the clerk or the judge. In a separate envelope, the clerk shall insert any signed verdict forms. All such juror court documents with identifying information shall then be impounded in the court file until further order of court. (b) Anyone seeking to access these impounded documents in the court file with identifying juror information must file and notice a petition setting forth good cause for disclosure.

Original GAL reports are impounded by the Circuit Court Clerk and closed to the public.

Source text: The filed original GAL report shall be impounded by the Circuit Court Clerk and shall not be open to viewing by the public.

Filing party responsible for not disclosing sealed/impounded/private info (per Supreme Court Rules 15/138); Clerk not responsible for redaction.

Source text: It is the responsibility of the filing party or counsel to ensure that documents filed electronically do not disclose previously or statutorily impounded or sealed information or private information defined in Supreme Court Rules 15 and 138. The Clerk is not responsible for the content of filed documents and has no obligation to review, redact or screen any expunged, sealed or impounded information.

Confidential/impounded/sealed case documents must be filed conventionally; motion to seal without prior order must be e-filed with legal explanation, document not attached.

Source text: All documents in confidential, impounded, or sealed cases must be submitted conventionally to the Clerk's office for filing. A party who has a legal basis for filing a document under seal without prior court order must electronically file a motion for leave to file under seal. The motion must include an explanation of how the document meets the legal standards for filing sealed documents. The document in question may not be attached to the motion as an attachment.

Redact personal identifiers in e-filed documents: SSN (last 4 digits), driver's license (prohibited), minor children (initials), DOB (year only), financial accounts (last 4 digits) unless court ordered.

Source text: In addition to the materials referenced in Supreme Court Rules 15 and 138, parties and their counsel shall refrain from including, or shall redact where inclusion is necessary, the following personal identifiers from all documents electronically filed with the court, including exhibits, thereto, unless otherwise ordered by the Court: (1) Social Security Number and Driver's License Number - If an individual's social security number must be included in a document, only the last four digits of the number shall be used. An individual's driver's license number shall not be used; (2) Names of Minor Children - If the involvement of a minor child must be included, only the initials of that child's name shall be used; (3) Dates of Birth - If an individual's date of birth must be included in a document, only the year shall be used; and (4) Financial Account Numbers - If financial account numbers are relevant, only the last four digits of these numbers shall be used.

Written reports submitted by GALs are impounded by the circuit clerk and not accessible to the public.

Source text: If the GAL submits a written report, it shall be impounded by the circuit clerk and shall not be open to viewing by the public.