Lake County Court of Common Pleas, General Division Sealing & Redaction Procedures

Social security numbers, full financial account numbers, and other information designated as personal and private by federal or state law may not be included in a public record.

The following information is deemed “personal and private” and may not be included in a public record:

The filing party and counsel must redact personal and private information from filed documents, including attached exhibits and addenda.

It is the responsibility of the filing party and counsel to remove personal and private information from a document filed with the clerk of court’s office. The responsibility of the filing party and counsel to remove personal and private information extends to and includes exhibits or addenda attached to filings, such as preliminary and final judicial reports which itemize state tax liens that use social security numbers as case numbers, or medical records.

Personal and private information must be submitted separately in a filing that the court treats as non-public and keeps in a separate envelope with the prescribed notice.

Personal and private information must be submitted in a separate filing 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 marked as follows:

A journal entry containing personal and private information must be submitted in two copies: one for the non-public envelope and a redacted public copy marked at each redaction location; both copies are signed by the court.

Journal entries that necessarily include personal and private information must be submitted to the clerk of court’s office as follows: a copy that includes the personal and private information for placement in the non-public envelope and a copy with personal and private information redacted for placement in the public file. The copy not containing the personal and private information (for the public file) will have the notation “personal and private information redacted” at all places in the document where such information was removed. The court will sign both journal entries.

The clerk will not redact stamp-filed documents without a court order and may refuse documents containing unredacted personal information or information not submitted as required.

The clerk of courts will not remove any personal and private information from a stamp-filed document, including records or transcripts transmitted to this court from another court, without a court order to do so. The clerk of courts may refuse to accept for filing any document that contains personal and private information that has not been redacted or submitted in accordance with this order.

The CQE filer must remove personal and private identifying information from public documents, and any such information must be submitted separately as a non-public record opened only by court order.

It is the responsibility of the individual filing the petition for CQE to remove personal and private information, such as the individual’s social security number, from the petition and any exhibits or addenda attached to the petition or from documents later filed in the proceeding. If feasible, the ODRC should provide the petition for CQE to the court with personal and private identifying information redacted. The clerk of courts and deputy clerks shall have no responsibility for the removal of any personal and private information filed in a public document in the Lake County clerk of court’s office. Personal and private information must be submitted in a separate filing which will be deemed by the court as a non-public record. The information will be kept in a separate envelope within the case file and appropriately marked as containing personal and private information, and opened only upon an order of the court.

All documents and information assembled in considering a CQE petition are confidential, kept sealed, transmitted sealed to the court of appeals, and opened only by court order.

All documents and information assembled by the court in its consideration of the petition for CQE shall be deemed confidential and not a public record. Such documents and information shall be treated with the same level of confidentiality as a pre-sentence report and shall be kept sealed and transmitted in a sealed condition to the court of appeals in the event of appellate review, and shall not be opened except upon an order of the court.

Personal information in earlier filings and records or transcripts transmitted from another court is public unless removal is requested by petition and granted by the court.

Any personal and private information in documents filed prior to the implementation of this rule 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 a