GR 22
              ACCESS TO FAMILY LAW AND GUARDIANSHIP COURT RECORDS


     (a)    Purpose and Scope of this Rule.  This rule governs access to family law
and guardianship court records, whether the records are maintained in paper
or electronic form.  The policy of the courts is to facilitate public access
to court records, provided that such access will not present an unreasonable
invasion of personal privacy, will not permit access to records or
information defined by law or court rule as confidential, sealed, exempted
from disclosure, or otherwise restricted from public access, and will not be
unduly burdensome to the ongoing business of the courts.

     (b)    Definition and Construction of Terms.

     (1)  "Court record" is defined in GR 31 (c)(4).

     (2)  "Family law case or guardianship case" means any case filed under Chapters
11.88, 11.92, 26.09, 26.10, 26.12, 26.18, 26.21, 26.23, 26.26, 26.27, 26.50,
26.52, 73.36 and 74.34 RCW.

     (3)  "Personal Health Care Record" means any record or correspondence that
contains health information that: (1) relates to the past, present, or future
physical or mental health condition of an individual including past, present,
or future payments for health care; or (2) involves genetic parentage testing.

     (4)  "Personal Privacy" is unreasonably invaded only if disclosure of
information about the person or the family (a) would be highly offensive to a
reasonable person and (b) is not of legitimate concern to the public.

     (5)  "Public access" means unrestricted access to view or copy a requested
court record.

     (6)  "Restricted personal identifiers" means a party's social security number,
a party's driver's license number, a party's telephone number, financial
account numbers, social security number of a minor child and date of birth of a minor child.


                                     COMMENT

     A party is not required to provide a residence address.  Petitioners or
counsel to a family law case will provide a service or contact address in
accordance with CR 4.1 that will be publicly available and all parties and
counsel should provide a contact address if otherwise required.  Pattern forms
shall be modified, as necessary, to reflect the intent of this rule.

     (7)  "Retirement plan order" means a supplemental order entered for the sole
purpose of implementing a property division that is already set forth in a
separate order or decree in a family law case. A retirement plan order may not
grant substantive relief other that what is set forth in a separate order.
Examples of retirement plan orders are orders that implement a division of
retirement, pension, insurance, military, or similar benefits as already
defined in a decree of dissolution of marriage.

     (8)  "Sealed financial source documents" means income tax returns, W-2s and
schedules, wage stubs, credit card statements, financial institution
statements, checks or the equivalent, check registers, loan application
documents, retirement plan orders, as well as other financial information
sealed by court order.

     (c)  Access to Family Law or Guardianship Court Records.

     (1)  General Policy.  Except as provided in RCW 26.26.610(2) and
subsections (c)(2) and (c)(3) below, all court records shall be open to the public for
inspection and copying upon request.  The Clerk of the court may assess fees,
as may be authorized by law, for the production of such records.

     (2)  Restricted Access.  The Confidential Information Form, Sealed Financial
Source Documents, Domestic Violence Information Form, Notice of Intent to
Relocate required by R.C.W. 26.09.440, Sealed Personal Health Care Record,
Retirement Plan Order, Confidential Reports as defined in (e)(2)(B), copies of
any unredacted Judicial Information System (JIS) database information
considered by the court for parenting plan approval as set forth in (f) of this
rule, and any Personal Information Sheet necessary for Judicial Information
System purposes shall only be accessible as provided in sections (h) and (i) herein.

     (3)  Excluded Records.  This section (c) does not apply to court records that
are sealed as provided in GR 15, or to which access is otherwise restricted by law.

     (d)  Restricted Personal Identifiers Not Required - Except.  Parties to a
family law case or the protected person in a guardianship case shall not be
required to provide restricted personal identifiers in any document filed with
the court or required to be provided upon filing a family law or guardianship
case, except:

     (1)  "Sealed financial source documents" filed in accordance with (g)(1).

     (2) The following forms:  Confidential Information Form, Domestic Violence
Information Form, Notice of Intent to Relocate required by R.C.W. 26.09.440,
Vital Statistics Form, Law Enforcement Information Form, Foreign Protection
Order Information Form, and any Personal Information Sheet necessary for
Judicial Information System purposes.

     (3)  Court requested documents that contain restricted personal identifiers,
which may be submitted by a party as financial source documents under the
provisions of section (g) of this rule.


                                    COMMENT

     Court records not meeting the definition of "Sealed Financial Source
Documents", "Personal Health Care Records", Retirement Plan Orders,
Confidential Reports or court records that otherwise meet the definition but
have not been submitted in accordance with (g)(1) are not automatically sealed.
Section (3) provides authority for the court to seal court records containing
restricted personal identifiers upon motion of a party, or on the court's own
motion during a hearing or trial.

     (e)     Filing of Reports in Family Law and Guardianship cases - Cover Sheet.

     (1)  This section applies to documents that are intended as reports to the
court in Family law and Guardianship cases including, but not limited to,
the following:

     (A) Parenting evaluations;

     (B) Domestic Violence Assessment Reports created by Family Court Services
         or a qualified expert appointed by the court;

     (C) Risk Assessment Reports created by Family Court Services or a
         qualified expert;

     (D) CPS Summary Reports created by Family Court Services or supplied
         directly by Children's Protective Services;

     (E) Sexual abuse evaluations; and

     (F) Reports of a guardian ad litem or Court Appointed Special Advocate.

     (2)  Reports shall be filed as two separate documents, one public and one sealed.

     (A)  Public Document.  The public portion of any report shall include a simple
          listing of:

          (i)   Materials or information reviewed;

          (ii)  Individuals contacted;

          (iii) Tests conducted or reviewed; and

          (iv)  Conclusions and recommendations.

     (B) Sealed Document.  The sealed portion of the report shall be filed with a
coversheet designated: "Sealed Confidential Report."  The material filed with this
coversheet shall include:

          (i)   Detailed descriptions of material or information gathered or reviewed;

          (ii)  Detailed descriptions of all statements reviewed or taken;

          (iii) Detailed descriptions of tests conducted or reviewed; and

          (iv)  Any analysis to support the conclusions and recommendations.

     (3)   The sealed portion may not be placed in the court file or used as an
attachment or exhibit to any other document except under seal.

     (f) Information Obtained from JIS Databases with Regard to Approval of a
Parenting Plan.

     When a judicial officer proposes to consider information from a JIS database
relevant to the placement of a child in a parenting plan, the judicial officer
shall either orally disclose on the record or disclose the relevant information
in written form to each party present at the hearing, and, on timely request,
provide any party an opportunity to be heard regarding that information. The
judicial officer has discretion not to disclose information that he or she does
not propose to consider.  The judicial officer may restrict secondary
dissemination of written unredacted JIS database information not available to the public.

     (g)  Sealing Financial Source Documents, Personal Health Care Records, and
Sealed Confidential Reports in Family Law and Guardianship cases - Cover Sheet.

     (1)  Financial source documents, personal health care records, confidential
reports as defined in (e)(2)(B) of this rule, and copies of unredacted JIS
database records considered by the court for parenting plan approval as set
forth in (f) of this rule, shall be submitted to the clerk under a cover sheet
designated "SEALED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS", "SEALED PERSONAL HEALTH CARE
RECORDS", "SEALED CONFIDENTIAL REPORT" or "JUDICIAL INFORMATION SYSTEM DATABASE
RECORDS" for filing in the court record of family law or guardianship cases.

     (2)  All financial source documents, personal health care records, confidential
reports, or judicial information system database records so submitted shall be
automatically sealed by the clerk. The cover sheet or a copy thereof shall
remain part of the public court file.

     (3)  The court may order that any financial source documents containing
restricted personal identifiers, personal health care records, any report
containing information described in (e)(2)(B), or copies of unredacted JIS
database records considered by the court for parenting plan approval as
described in (f) be sealed, if they have not previously automatically been
sealed pursuant to this rule.

     (4)  These coversheets may not be used for any documents except as provided in
this rule.  Sanctions may be imposed upon any party or attorney who violates this rule.


                                    COMMENT

See comment to (d)(3) above.

     (h)    Access by Courts, Agencies, and Parties to Restricted Documents.

     (1)  Unless otherwise provided by statute or court order, the following persons
shall have access to all records in family law or guardianship cases:

     (A)  Judges, commissioners, other court personnel, the Commission on
Judicial Conduct, and the Certified Professional Guardian Board may access and
use restricted court records only for the purpose of conducting official
business of the court, Commission, or Board.

     (B)  Any state administrative agency of any state that administers
programs under Title IV-A, IV-D, IV-E, or XIX of the federal Social Security Act.

     (2)  Except as otherwise provided by statute or court order, the following
persons shall have access to all documents filed in a family law or
guardianship case, except the Personal Information Sheet, Vital Statistics
Form, Confidential Information Form, Domestic Violence Information Form, Law
Enforcement Information Form, and Foreign Protection Order Form.

     (A)  Parties of record as to their case.

     (B)  Attorneys as to cases where they are attorneys of record.

     (C)  Court appointed Title 11 guardians ad litem as to cases where they are
actively involved.

          (i)  Access to Court Records Restricted Under This Rule.

     (1)  The parties may stipulate in writing to allow public access to any court
records otherwise restricted under section (c)(2) above.

     (2)  Any person may file a motion, supported by an affidavit showing good
cause, for access to any court record otherwise restricted under section (c)(2)
above, or to be granted access to such court records with specified information
deleted.  Written notice of the motion shall be provided to all parties in the
manner required by the Superior Court Civil Rules.  If the person seeking
access cannot locate a party to provide the notice required by this rule, after
making a good faith reasonable effort to provide such notice as required by the
Superior Court Rules, an affidavit may be filed with the court setting forth
the efforts to locate the party and requesting waiver of the notice provision
of this rule.  The court may waive the notice requirement of this rule if the
court finds that further good faith efforts to locate the party are not likely
to be successful, or if the motion requests access to redacted JIS database records.

     (A) The court shall allow access to court records restricted under this rule,
or relevant portions of court records restricted under this rule, if the court finds
that the public interests in granting access or the personal interest of the person
seeking access outweigh the privacy and safety interests of the parties or dependent children.

     (B)  Upon receipt of a motion requesting access, the court may provide access
to JIS database records described in (f) after the court has reviewed the JIS database
records and redacted pursuant to GR 15 (c), any data which is confidential or restricted
by statute or court rule.

     (C) If the court grants access to restricted court records, the court may enter
such orders necessary to balance the personal privacy and safety interests of the parties
or dependent children with the public interest or the personal interest of the party seeking
access, consistent with this rule.


[Adopted effective October 1, 2001; amended effective July 1, 2006; amended effective August 11, 2009.]