NOTICE REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF CASE FILE INFORMATION

Any document filed with a court should not include sensitive information unless such inclusion is necessary and relevant to the case or ordered by the Court. Any personal information not otherwise protected by statute or court rule will be made available at the courthouse and may also be available in a local court's website.

Access to Family Law and Guardianship Case documents is governed by the general court rule GR 22 - Access to Family Law Cases. Types of cases covered under GR 22 are:

In Family Law and Guardianship Cases:

  • Income tax returns, W-2s and schedules, wage stubs, credit card statements, financial institution statements, check registers, and other financial information sealed by court order should be filed under the Sealed Financial Source Documents Cover Sheet.

  • Personal health care records and genetic parentage testing records should be filed under a cover sheet designated "Sealed Personal Health Care Records."

  • Detailed and analytical reports to the court in Family Law and Guardianship cases that are parenting evaluations, domestic violence assessment reports, risk assessment reports, CPS summary reports, sexual abuse evaluations, and reports of CASA or guardian ad litems should be filed under a "Sealed Confidential Report." However, summaries of these reports and evaluations should be filed separately and become part of the public file. This would include: (1) identification of the materials or information reviewed; (2) a list of the individuals contacted; (3) the tests conducted and/or reviewed; and (4) all conclusions and recommendations to the court.

Anyone filing a document should remove or omit social security numbers, financial account numbers, and driver's license numbers on all other documents, except the Confidential Information Form and Addendums, Notice of Intent to Relocate, Vital Statistics Form, Law Enforcement Information Form, Foreign Protection Order Information Form, unless otherwise ordered by the court.

It is the sole responsibility of the person filing the documents (usually attorneys and the parties to a case) to be sure that all documents filed comply with the rules of the court requiring the filing of certain documents under the Sealed Financial Source Documents Cover Sheet, Sealed Personal Health Care Records Cover Sheet, Sealed Confidential Report Cover Sheet, and the removal or omission of personal identifiers. The clerk will not review each document for compliance with these requirements.

By statute, the following types of cases records are not open to the public:

For all other types of case, unless otherwise necessary or otherwise ordered by the court, persons filing documents with the court should not include, and if present shall remove or omit, the following personal identifiers from all documents:

  • Social Security Number. If the Social Security Number of an individual must be included in a document, only the last four digits of that number shall be used.

  • Financial Account Numbers. If financial account numbers are relevant, only the last four digits shall be included in the document.

  • Driver's License Numbers. Driver's license numbers are necessary on Notice of Infractions and Uniform Citations.

Attorneys are strongly urged to share this notice with all clients so that an informed decision about the inclusion of certain materials may be made. It is the sole responsibility of filer to be sure that all documents filed comply with the rules of the court requiring removal or omission of personal identifiers. The clerk will not review each document for compliance with these requirements.

Any document that a party believes contains sensitive information and is not covered by the above court rules or statutes may still be sealed if the party convinces the court that the document should be sealed or redacted under the parameters set forth in GR 15.

 

Privacy and Disclaimer Notices Sitemap

© Copyright 2024. Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts.

S3