Allen County Court of Common Pleas, General Division Sealing & Redaction Procedures

CRITICAL

The confidential family file includes specified health, assessment, custody, parenting, financial, and other documents designated by the Court as not subject to public disclosure.

(3) The family file will include but is not limited to the following: (a) Health care documents, including but not limited to physical health, psychological health, psychiatric health, mental health and counseling documents; (b) Drug and alcohol use assessments and predisposition treatment facility reports; (c) Guardian ad Litem reports, including collateral source documents attached to or filed with the reports; (d) Home investigation reports, including collateral source documents attached to or filed with the reports; (e) Child custody evaluations and reports, including collateral source documents attached to or filed with the reports; (f) Domestic violence risk assessments; (g) Supervised parenting time or companionship or visitation records and reports, including exchange records and reports; (h) Financial disclosure statements regarding property, debt, taxes, income and expenses including collateral source documents attached to or filed with records and statements; (i) Asset appraisal and evaluation; (j) Other documents containing information the Court specifically finds should not be subject to public disclosure.

CRITICAL

The filing party is solely responsible for redacting personal, confidential, or private information.

Redaction of personal, confidential, or private information is solely the responsibility of the party filing the document.

CRITICAL

Social security numbers and other information that must be excluded from the public record must be redacted under the applicable court and Rules of Superintendence requirements.

All social security numbers and other information that must be excluded from public record shall be redacted in accordance with the rules of this court and the Rules of Superintendence. Records or information received by a court to assist the court with making its decision under R.C. 2953.25, including information included on a petition, shall retain their character as public or non-public records, as otherwise provided in law.

CRITICAL

A document ordered filed under seal must be submitted physically to the clerk, who will maintain it in accordance with the under-seal designation.

Any document(s) ordered within a case to be filed “under seal” shall be filed in its physical form with the Clerk of Courts, who will maintain said documents in a manner consistent with the designation of “under seal.”

CRITICAL

Except where a pertinent statute, rule, or court order provides otherwise, index references to court-ordered sealed or expunged records must be deleted from the DMS and electronic filing system.

Except as provided in the pertinent Revised Code section, Rule, or Court order, all index references to the case that pertain to records ordered sealed or expunged by the Court shall be deleted from the DMS and the electronic filing system.

CRITICAL

After the court grants sealing or expungement and the required fees are paid, the clerk must forward certified copies of the sealing order to the listed agencies and the applicant's counsel.

If the Court grants the sealing or expungement of a criminal record pursuant to R.C. 2953.32(C), upon the payment of the application and court fees required under this rule, the Clerk of this Court shall forward certified copies of the order granting sealing to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in London, Ohio, the Sheriff of Allen County, Ohio, the Lima Police Department, Lima Municipal Court, the Adult Parole Authority office in Lima, Ohio, the Criminal Justice Investigation Services, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, West Virginia, 26306, and to counsel for the applicant.

CRITICAL

Any person may request confidential family-file information by written motion; all parties receive notice, the Court may hold a hearing, and public access requires clear and convincing evidence that a higher interest outweighs confidentiality.

(J) Any person, by written motion to the Court, may request access to a document or information in a confidential family file. The Court will give notice of the motion to all parties in the case, and may schedule a hearing on the motion. The Court may permit public access to a document or information in a confidential family file if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the presumption of maintaining confidentiality is outweighed by a higher interest.

CRITICAL

The Prosecutor must file any counsel-only designation or certification of nondisclosure with the court within seven days after the defendant’s discovery demand, and a nondisclosure certification must identify the material withheld.

The Prosecutor’s “Counsel Only” designation, provided for by Crim. R. 16(C) or certification of nondisclosure, provided for by Crim. R. 16(D) 69 shall be filed with the Court no later than seven (7) days after the demand for discovery is made by the defendant. A certification of non-disclosure shall identify the non-disclosed material.

WARNING

A receiver filing containing trade secrets or privileged communications may be publicly filed in redacted form and served on appeared parties, but a complete unredacted copy must be submitted to the court for in camera review, after which an application by the receiver or any party may prompt reconsideration of whether information should be public or for attorney eyes only.

If a receiver’s report, motion, fee application, or other filing refers to trade secrets (such as a plan for operating an ongoing business, proposed sale prices, customer information, personnel matters, or other non-public information) or would necessarily reference attorney-client or work-product communications, then redacted documents may be filed in the public record and served upon all parties that have appeared. When that occurs, a complete un-redacted document shall be submitted to the Court for in camera review. Upon application by the receiver or any party, the Court will re-examine the document and determine whether previously redacted information should be disclosed in the public case file or for attorney-eyes only.

WARNING

Unless the court orders otherwise, the clerk is solely responsible for sending the sealing or expungement order to the listed agencies.

Unless so ordered, the Clerk of Courts shall only be responsible for sending the Sealing or Expungement of Criminal Record Order to the above agencies.