Lorain County Court of Common Pleas, Ohio Sealing & Redaction Procedures

CRITICAL

Filers must omit personal and confidential information unless it is necessary and relevant or is submitted separately, such as in a secure personal identifier information sheet.

The filer shall not include personal and confidential information in any document filed with the court unless such inclusion is necessary and relevant to the case or unless it is filed as a separate document – such as the personal identifier information sheet, which is a secure document not subject to public

CRITICAL

A sealed document may be filed only after the sealing order is signed and journalized, and it must be physically presented to the clerk with a copy of the signed order.

A party shall file a document to be sealed only after an order sealing that document has been signed and journalized. The sealed documents will not be e-filed but physically presented to the clerk’s office along with a copy of the signed order.

CRITICAL

When necessary personal or confidential information is included, the filer must redact identifying numbers except for their last four digits, use only a minor’s initials, and replace other personal or confidential information with “[REDACTED].”

(3) Redaction: If personal and confidential information is necessary and must be included in a document, the filer shall redact the personal and confidential information from the document in the following manner: a. For social security numbers, financial account numbers, or other personal identification numbers, all but the last four digits of the number shall be redacted. b. For minors, only the child’s initials shall be included. c. For any other personal or confidential information, the information shall be replaced with “[REDACTED].”

CRITICAL

Personal and confidential information that must be included in entries and orders must be redacted using the procedures in the subsection.

(5) Entries and Orders: Personal and confidential information required to be included in entries and orders shall be redacted in the manner set forth in this subsection.

WARNING

One copy may contain the judgment debtor’s complete, unredacted personal identifiers, but it should be clearly marked and, if provided, must be issued only to the garnishee and not retained in the court file.

a. One (1) copy of the Order of Garnishment of Property and Answer of Garnishee may include Judgment Debtor’s complete, unredacted personal identifiers. This copy should be clearly marked to distinguish it from the original filing and three (3) other copies. Any such copy, if provided, shall be issued to the Garnishee only and not retained in the Court file as part of the record.

WARNING

Mediator-maintained files and documents provided to the mediator that were not filed with a clerk or submitted to the court are not available for public access.

(4) No Access to Mediation Files: The files maintained by a mediator and documents provided to the mediator by a party but not filed with a clerk or submitted to the court will not be available for public access pursuant to Sup.R. 44 through 47.

WARNING

Mediation communications are confidential and may not be disclosed without the consent of all parties and the mediator, subject to the stated statutory and other exceptions.

(2) Confidentiality: Except as provided in R.C. 121.22 and 149.43, mediation communications are confidential to the extent provided by the Ohio Revised Code. No one shall disclose any of these communications unless all parties and the mediator consent to disclosure. Disputes regarding confidentiality should first be addressed with the mediator or mediation department where possible. By participating in mediation, a nonparty participant, as defined by R.C. 2710.01(D), submits to the Court’s jurisdiction to the extent necessary for enforcement of this rule. Any nonparty participant shall have the same rights and duties under this rule as are attributed to parties, except that no evidence privilege shall be expanded. (3) Exceptions: All mediations communications are confidential with the following exceptions: a. Parties may share all mediation communications with their attorneys. b. Certain threats of abuse or neglect of a child or an adult. c. Statements made during the mediation process to plan or hide an ongoing crime; and d. Statements made during the mediation process that reveal a felony.

WARNING

The filer is responsible and liable for redacting personal and confidential information; the clerk is not responsible for reviewing documents for compliance.

(4) Responsible Party: The filer is responsible and liable for redacting personal and confidential information. It is not the responsibility of the clerk to review each document for compliance with this Order.