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

The Clerk may refuse unredacted documents containing personal or private information.

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 rule.

When necessary personal information is included, use only the last four digits of Social Security and financial account numbers and only a minor child’s initials.

If personal and private information is necessary and must be included in a document, the filing party shall partially redact the following personal and private information from the pleadings as follows: ocial Security Numbers: If the individual’s Social Security number must be included in a document, only the last four digits of that number should be used. Financial Account Numbers: If financial account numbers are relevant, only the last four digits of these numbers should be used. Names of Minor Children: If the involvement of a minor child must be mentioned, only the initials of the child should be used.

E-filers must redact all but the last four digits of listed identifiers, use only minors’ initials, and replace other personal information with “[REDACTED]”.

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

A document filed under seal must identify the sealing order and date in the e-filing document title.

A document may be filed under seal. The Order and its date must be noted on the e-filing under the document title (e.g., “Document filed under seal pursuant to Court Order of mm/dd/yyyy”).

A final mediation agreement may be filed under seal only if the parties request sealing and the court approves it.

If a final agreement is reached during the conference that agreement may be filed under seal to preserve confidentiality, provided that the parties request that the agreement be sealed and the court approves.