Local Rule 5003-2: ACCESS TO COURT RECORDS

RULE 5003-2 ACCESS TO COURT RECORDS

(a) Public Access to Court Records.

(1) Generally. Public court records are available for examination in the clerk's office during business hours specified in Local Rule 5001-1.

(2) Prohibition of Removal of Court Records. Court records may not be removed from the clerk's office except by order of the court.

(3) Requesting Copies of and Accessing Court Records. Upon request and payment, the clerk will provide copies of public court records, as set forth in the Bankruptcy Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule or the Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule issued by the Judicial Conference under 28 U.S.C. § 1930(b).

(b) Electronic Access to Court Records. Generally. A person may access court records electronically through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system ("PACER") at pacer.uscourts.gov.

(c) Sealed Court Records.

(1) Sealed Papers are Not Public Records. Papers ordered sealed or papers subject to a court order under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9037(c) or (d) are not public records within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 107.

(2) Requesting to File Papers Under Seal.

(A) Motion to File Under Seal. A request to file a document under seal should be made by motion to the court.

(B) Contents of Motion to File Under Seal. A motion to file under seal should set forth the basis for relief. If protected materials or information are necessary to support the motion, a declaration describing the material must be filed separately from the motion, using the ECF docket event, "Sealed Document." The moving party should simultaneously upload a proposed order granting the motion to file under seal.

(C) Filing Sealed Documents.

(i) ECF Filing. Once an order is entered granting a motion to file under seal, the document(s) to be filed under seal should be filed using the ECF docket event "Sealed Document."

(ii) Non-ECF Filing. Once an order is entered granting a motion to file under seal, non-ECF users should submit to the clerk a copy of the order attached to a sealed envelope containing the papers under seal. Unless otherwise ordered, any sealed documents filed by paper will be scanned and electronically sealed on the docket, then destroyed.

(3) Requesting to Unseal Papers. A motion to unseal a document may be made on any grounds permitted by law and should be served on the party that requested the sealing.

(4) Viewing of Sealed Documents by Court Personnel. Unless ordered otherwise, court staff are not precluded from viewing sealed documents.