RULES OF COURT
| IN THE MATTER OF THE ADOPTION OF THE AMENDMENTS TO GR 22 | ) ) |
ORDER NO. 25700-A-891 |
Now, therefore, it is hereby
ORDERED:
(a) That pursuant to the provisions of GR 9(g), the proposed amendment as attached hereto is to be published for comment in the Washington Reports, Washington Register, Washington State Bar Association and Administrative Office of the Court's websites expeditiously.
(b) The purpose statement as required by GR 9(e), is published solely for the information of the Bench, Bar and other interested parties.
(c) Comments are to be submitted to the Clerk of the Supreme Court by either U.S. Mail or Internet E-Mail by no later than 60 days from the published date. Comments may be sent to the following addresses: P.O. Box 40929, Olympia, Washington 98504-0929, or Camilla.Faulk@courts.wa.gov. Comments submitted by e-mail message must be limited to 1500 words.
DATED at Olympia, Washington this 3rd day of April, 2008.
| For the Court | |
| Gerry L. Alexander | |
| CHIEF JUSTICE |
| GR 9 COVER SHEET |
Submitted by the Judicial Information System Committee
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)). |
ACCESS TO FAMILY LAW AND GUARDIANSHIP COURT RECORDS
(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.
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 Judicial Information System 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 (gh)
and (hi) 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 (fg)(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
(fg) of this rule.
(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 as Required by Chapter 26.09 RCW.
When a judicial officer determines that information contained within a judicial information services (JIS) database is relevant to the placement of a child in a parenting plan, the judicial officer shall disclose the relevant information to the parties and, on timely request, provide any party an opportunity to be heard regarding that information. Disclosure of JIS database information irrelevant to child placement is not required.
(fg) 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, and confidential reports as defined in (e)(2)(B) of
this rule, and copies of judicial information system 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", or "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, or 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, or any report containing information
described in (e)(2)(B), or copies of judicial information
system 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.
(gh) 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.
(hi) 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.
(3) 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. 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.
Reviser's note: The typographical error in the above material occurred in the copy filed by the State Supreme Court and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.