(1) Classification of court records: public and non-public
Most records filed in the district and justice courts are "public" records, which means that anyone who asks can view the record and make a copy of it. Many public records are available on the court's website. Some records are "private," which means that only the parties, their lawyers and a few others can view and copy the record. Less common are "protected" records, which also means that only the parties, their lawyers and a few others can view and copy the record.
Some common casetypes that are not public are:
Some common documents that are not public are:
Some common data elements that are not public are:
For a more complete list of public and non-public records, see Rule 4-202.02.
(2) Keeping residential address from the other party
Even private records are usually available to the parties in a case. In a few casetypes, if it is necessary to protect a person's personal safety, a person can keep her or his residential address from the other party. The person must request this, sometimes under oath, and it is authorized only for documents related to:
The party's address must still be filed with the court, and it may need to be shared with a constable or deputy sheriff for serving papers, but the information is not shared with the public or other party except in the circumstances described in the statutes.
(3) Filer must omit or redact non-public information
The person filing a document must exclude any non-public information from it and must declare that s/he has done so. Rule 4-202.09(9). If you are preparing the document from scratch or completing a court form, omit any non-public information. If you are filing a document prepared apart from the court process that happens to contain non-public information, redact the non-public information. Redact means to take out. For example, make a copy, black out the non-public information with a heavy black marker. If the ink from the copy shows through, make a copy of the copy. Non-public information contained in a public document will be accessible to anyone, possibly on the internet. The clerk will not redact the non-public information.
(4) Substitute information for non-public information
Sometimes a statute or rule will require that you provide non-public information to the court. For example, the name of a child is private, but in a petition for divorce it is necessary to identify the child for purposes of custody, parent-time and support. Rule 4-202.09(9) permits you to include substitute information for some common pieces of private information.
If non-public information is required, include in the public document only the following substitute information:
You may still have to provide the court with the non-public information, and you should do so on a separate document. The courts have Non-public Information forms for identifying some of the more common pieces of non-public information.
When you file a non-public record, identify it as such for the clerk. That will help insure that the document is properly classified and not mistakenly made available to the public.
(5) Motion to classify a record as non-public
If the non-public information in a document is so pervasive that it cannot conveniently be redacted, or if filing the non-public information is the whole point, file a motion to classify the record as private or protected. See Rule 4-202.04.
Do not confuse this with a "sealed" record. Sealed records are rare. Private and protected records are kept secure from public view, but a sealed record is physically sealed and no one can view or copy the record without a court order. Rule 4-202.02(3), Rule 4-202.03(2), and Rule 4-205(4).
(6) Forms
The appropriate forms will be prepared with your other papers for divorce. If you need to file other papers in your case, you can obtain blank forms on the court's web page. Court Forms
(7) Rules governing access to court records
Rule 4-202 Purpose
Rule 4-202.01 Definitions
Rule 4-202.02 Records classifications
Rule 4-202.03 Records access
Rule 4-202.04 Request to access or classify a record associated with a case
Rule 4-202.05 Request to access or classify an administrative record; request to create an index
Rule 4-202.06 Response to request to access or classify a record
Rule 4-202.07 Appeals
Rule 4-202.08 Fees for records, information, and services
Rule 4-202.09 Miscellaneous
Rule 4-205 Security of court records