St. Croix County Circuit Court, Wisconsin Sealing & Redaction Procedures

CRITICAL

After sentencing, a presentence investigation report is confidential and may be made available only with specific court authorization, subject to the stated access and copy rules; recipients must keep its information confidential.

Except as otherwise provided by statute, after sentencing the presentence investigation report shall be confidential and shall not be made available to any person except upon specific authorization of the court. The district attorney and the defendant’s attorney are entitled to have and keep a copy of the presentence investigation report. If the defendant is not represented by counsel, the defendant is entitled to view the presentence investigation report but may not keep a copy of the report. A district attorney or defendant’s attorney who receives a copy of the report shall keep it confidential. A defendant who views the contents of a presentence report shall keep the information in the report confidential.

CRITICAL

Financial disclosure statements must be sealed in court files and may be accessed only by a party or that party’s attorney.

Due to the personal and private nature of the information provided in financial disclosure statements, all such documents shall be sealed in court files and may be accessed only by a party or his or her attorney.

CRITICAL

All juvenile court proceedings must remain confidential.

All juvenile court proceedings shall be confidential.

CRITICAL

The defendant’s address, telephone number, and Social Security number provided for an approved installment plan will be sealed in the court file.

If such a payment plan is approved, the defendant shall provide the court with a current address, telephone number, and social security number, which will then be sealed in the court file.

CRITICAL

If the court grants an expunction petition, the juvenile clerk must seal in the court file all documents referring to the adjudication.

b. Seal inside the court file all documents referring to the adjudication, including but not limited to:

CRITICAL

No copies of juvenile court records may be made or provided to anyone requesting access.

6. No copies of any court records shall be made or provided to any person requesting access to the records of a juvenile.

CRITICAL

The listed records are presumed confidential and may not be accessed without a court order.

The following records and files are presumed to be confidential and will not be accessible without an order of the court: juvenile files, probate files, family files, presentence investigation reports, medical reports, psychological evaluations, confidential judge and court commissioner notes that are work-product, and financial disclosure statements.

CRITICAL

Petitioner contact information must be sealed in the court file and may not be accessed unless the court orders otherwise.

Any contact information provided by a petitioner shall be sealed in the court file and may not be accessed unless otherwise ordered by the court.

WARNING

Before inspection of covered Serious Juvenile Offender records, the clerk must determine whether the alleged offense qualifies and, if it does, remove specified reports and other records containing sensitive personal information; questions about release must be referred to the assigned judge.

4. Requests pursuant to § 938.396(2m)(a): If a request is for access to juvenile court records made by any person under § 938.396(2m)(a) for juveniles alleged to have committed an offense enumerated in § 938.34(4h)(a) (Serious Juvenile Offender crimes), the juvenile court clerk shall before releasing the file for inspection: a. Determine if the juvenile is alleged to have committed a crime specified in § 938.34(4h)(a), and, if so, b. Remove from the file all reports under § 938.295 (physical, mental, psychological, or developmental examination reports) or § 938.33 (court dispositional reports) or other records that deal with sensitive personal information of the juvenile and the juvenile's family. If the juvenile court clerk has questions concerning the appropriateness of releasing any information, the matter shall be referred to the judge assigned to the that case for a determination.

WARNING

For covered access requests, the clerk must verify the specified felony-charge and prior-adjudication conditions and, if all are met, remove the specified reports and other records containing sensitive personal information before inspection.

5. Requests pursuant to § 938.396(2m)(b): If a request is for access to juvenile court records of a juvenile alleged to be delinquent for committing a felony after a prior delinquency adjudication, the juvenile clerk shall: a. First, make all of the following determinations: That the juvenile is currently charged with a felony, That the juvenile was adjudicated delinquent for any crime at any time before the commencement of the felony proceeding, That the previous adjudication remains of record and has not been reversed. b. Second, if all of the above have been found to exist, the juvenile clerk before releasing the file for inspection shall remove from the file all reports under § 938.295 (physical, mental, psychological, or developmental examination reports) or § 938.33 (court dispositional reports) or other records that deal with sensitive personal information of the juvenile and the juvenile's family.

WARNING

For covered requests, the clerk must assess whether release could cause imminent danger and, if so, refer the matter to the assigned judge or block the potentially dangerous information; the requester may move to challenge the blocking.

If a request is made by a juvenile, parent, guardian or legal custodian under § 938.396(2)(ag) or (am), before release of any information requested the juvenile court clerk shall review the file and make an initial determination whether release of that information might result in imminent danger to anyone. If the juvenile court clerk believes such a result might occur, the juvenile court clerk shall either: a. Refer the matter to the judge assigned to that case for a determination as to whether a hearing shall be held on the release, or, b. Prepare a version of the information requested with the potentially dangerous information blocked out. The requester may bring a motion to the court if the requester believes the information should not have been blocked.