Auglaize County Municipal Court, Ohio Sealing & Redaction Procedures

CRITICAL

Warrant and summons requests and issued documents may include the full Social Security number and date of birth; after return of service, the Clerk must substitute a copy redacting the first five Social Security number digits and retain the original in a restricted separate envelope.

Notwithstanding this rule, any request for issuance of an arrest warrant, summons or bench warrant, and the actual warrant or summons issued thereafter, may include the full social security number and date of birth of the person named therein. The Clerk shall, upon return of service of the warrant or subpoena replace the original with a redacted copy (ies) upon which the Clerk shall redact the first five numbers of such social security number, retaining the original document (s) in a separate envelope maintained with the file, with said documents open only to inspection to judicial staff, clerk’s staff or upon Court order.

CRITICAL

Before e-filing, filers must remove or redact the specified sensitive information, and the filing party is solely responsible for redactions.

Before e-filing, counsel, parties and other persons must make sure the first five digits of a social security number, financial account numbers, medical records, driver’s license numbers, and similar private information are removed/redacted from the pleading, motion, or document.  Redactions of personal, confidential, or private information is solely the responsibility of the party filing the document.

CRITICAL

Completed Form 5.1 information is treated as non-public, kept in a separate envelope, and marked for access only by Court or Clerk personnel.

Such completed forms shall only be accessible as provided for in the Rules of Superintendence, which will be deemed by the Court as a non-public record. The information will be kept in a separate envelope within the case filed and marked as follows: “CONFIDENTIAL FILE – To be opened by Court/Clerk Personnel ONLY.”

CRITICAL

The Juvenile Court mails the sealing entry, marks and restricts the sealed record, sets a tickler for five years after sealing or when the juvenile turns 23, shreds the physical case after verifying its images, and retains copies of the entry and BCI form.

Once a case has been ordered sealed, the Juvenile Court processes the Journal Entry and mails that to the appropriate parties/agencies. The Juvenile Court then, goes into the case management system and marks the case sealed by the Seal Case function in Courtview. The case number is then changed to include SLD (example 2026 DELSLD 00001) to reflect that the case is sealed. A tickler is then set up for 5 years from the date of the Journal Entry sealing the case or upon the juvenile’s attainment of the age of 23 in accordance to ORC. 2151.358. In regard to the physical case file, the images are reviewed to ensure that they are there and then the case is shredded. Access to the sealed case in the case management system is then limited to necessary personnel. All indexes are marked to indicate that the case is sealed. The Juvenile Court keeps a copy of the Journal Entry sealing the record along with a copy of the form sent to BCI in a binder.

CRITICAL

In the Clerk of Courts office, the procedure is as follows: The case is flagged as sealed in the case management system by the office supervisor. The physical case is then transmitted to the Clerk of Courts who then follows the direction of the case management system (Equivant) to permanently delete the case from the computer system, ensuring that the record is irretrievable. The physical case file is then shredded by the Clerk.

In the Clerk of Courts office, the procedure is as follows: The case is flagged as sealed in the case management system by the office supervisor. The physical case is then transmitted to the Clerk of Courts who then follows the direction of the case management system (Equivant) to permanently delete the case from the computer system, ensuring that the record is irretrievable. The physical case file is then shredded by the Clerk.

CRITICAL

The Clerk’s office flags sealed cases in its system, restricts case access, secures the physical file, and seals indexes.

In the Clerk of Courts office, the procedure is as follows: The case is appropriately flagged as sealed in the case management system. The case number is then changed to a “SLD” case that is only accessible by the Clerk and Chief Deputy. The physical case file will be removed from our file room and stored in a secure area accessible only by the Clerk. All indexes are appropriately sealed.

CRITICAL

Identifiers must be deleted from the copies of the pay stub, driver's license, and health insurance card.

2. Defendant has attached hereto a copy of his current pay stub (identifiers deleted), a copy of his most recent time card (Y or N), a copy of his valid Ohio Driver’s License (identifiers deleted) (valid Y or N), a copy of his valid health insurance card (identifiers deleted) (valid Y or N), and if applicable a copy of his current valid auto insurance card.

WARNING

Specified older and transferred records are public, but a person whose information appears in a public record may petition for removal; if granted, the information is placed in a separate non-public envelope and a redacted copy goes in the public file.

Any personal and private information in documents filed prior to June 30, 2009, is considered public. Any personal and private information in records or transcripts transmitted to this court from another court is considered public. A party or an attorney in a case, or any other person whose personal and private information is contained in a public record of this court may petition the court for the removal of personal and private information, and if the request is granted, the personal and private information will be removed from the file-stamped document and placed in a separate envelope and deemed a non-public record. A redacted copy of the document will be placed in the public case file.