GR 22 - Access to Family Law and Guardianship Court Records

• Proposed Changes to GR 22 - Access to Family Law and Guardianship Court Records (in Word Format)
• Comments Received for GR 22 - Access to Family Law and Guardianship Court Records

Suggested Amendments to GR 22

Submitted by the Judicial Information System Committee

Purpose: The Judicial Information Systems Committee (JISC) is proposing amendments to General Rule 22 (GR 22), Access to Family Law and Guardianship Court Records. Recent legislation related to judicial approval of parenting plans has raised a number of issues in terms of the requirement that judicial officers review the history of parties prior to entering a parenting plan. Specifically, RCW 26.09.182 (effective July 2007) states, “Before entering a permanent parenting plan, the court shall determine the existence of any information and proceedings relevant to the placement of the child that are available in the judicial information system and databases.”  Two repeated complaints have been that this requirement is extraordinarily burdensome on the courts, and it further requires disclosure of certain JIS information considered “confidential.”

In response to these concerns, Judge C. Kenneth Grosse, chair of the JISC – Data Dissemination Committee sent a letter to the Superior Court Judges Association and to the Superior Court Commissioners asking for responses and possible recommendations regarding the new legislation as it relates to JIS data. The Data Dissemination Committee met and discussed the responses and decided on a solution that addresses JIS data concerns. The Data Dissemination Committee recommended to the JISC some minor amendments to GR 22. These proposed amendments address the distribution and filing of JIS data in situations addressed by the new legislation. The JISC unanimously voted to forward the amendments to the Supreme Court Rules Committee with a recommendation for expedited adoption due to the requirements of the new legislation. I have attached a copy of the proposed amendments for your review. Here is a summary of the proposed amendments:

• Copies of any relevant JIS database considered by the court for purposes of approving a parenting plan are not publicly accessible. (See GR 22(c)(2) – suggested amendments)

• A judicial officer must disclose to the parties any information within a JIS database that is relevant to the placement of a child and give opportunity to the parties to be heard regarding the JIS information. If the information is irrelevant, disclosure is not required. (See GR 22(f) – suggested amendments)

• The JIS database(s) that is considered by the court and disclosed to the parties is filed under a confidential cover sheet. (See GR 22(g)).