A. Redacted Filings. Unless the court orders otherwise in an electronic or paper filing with the
court that contains an individual’s social security number, taxpayer-identification number, or
birth date, the name of an individual known to be a minor, or a financial-account number, or
the home address of an individual, a party or nonparty making the filing may include only:
(1) The last four digits of the social security number and taxpayer-identification number;
(2) The year of the individual’s birth;
(3) The minor’s initials;
(4) The last four digits of the financial-account number; and
(5) The city and state of the home address. (This restriction applies only in criminal cases)
B. Exemptions from the Redaction Requirement. The redaction requirement does not apply to
the following:
(1) A financial account number that identifies the property allegedly subject to forfeiture
in a forfeiture proceeding;
(2) The record of an administrative or agency proceeding;*
(3) The official record of a state-court proceeding;
(4) The record of a court or tribunal, if that record was not subject to the redaction
requirement when originally filed;
(5) A filing covered by Rule 5.4(c);
(6) A pro se filing in an action brought under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241, 2254, or 2255;
(7) A court filing that is related to a criminal matter or investigation and that is prepared
before the filing of a criminal charge or is not filed as part of any docketed criminal
case;
(8) An arrest or search warrant; and
(9) A crime charging document and an affidavit filed in support of any such charging
document.
C. Filings Made Under Seal. The court may order that a filing be made under seal without
* Social Security Appeals and Immigration cases are subject to the limitations set forth in Rule 5.2(c), Fed.R.Civ.P.,
effective December 1, 2007.
redaction. The court may later unseal the filing or order the person who made the filing to file
a redacted version for the public record.
D. Protective Orders. For good cause, the court may by order in a case:
(1) Require redaction of additional information; or
(2) Limit or prohibit a nonparty’s remote electronic access to a document filed with the
court.
E. Option for Additional Unredacted Filing Under Seal. A person making a redacted filing
may also file an unredacted copy under seal. The court must retain the unredacted copy as part
of the record.
F. Option for Filing a Reference List. A filing that contains redacted information may be filed
together with a reference list that identifies each item of redacted information and specifies an
appropriate identifier that uniquely corresponds to each item listed. The list must be filed under
seal and may be amended as a right. Any reference in the case to a listed identifier will be
construed to refer to the corresponding item of information.
G. Waiver of Protection of Identifiers. A person waives the protection of Rule 5.4a or
corresponding Local Criminal Rule 49.2 as to the person’s own information by filing it without
redaction and not under seal.
