Legal Proceedings (formerly L.R. 83.12)
(a) The purpose of the rule is to implement the policy of the Judicial Conference of
the United States with regard
1. to the production or disclosure of official information or records by the federal
judiciary, and
2. the testimony of present or former judicial personnel relating to any official
information acquired by any such individual as part of the individual’s
performance of official duties, or by virtue of that individual’s official status, in
federal, state, or other legal proceedings. Implementation of this Rule is subject
to the regulations that the Judicial Conference of the United States has
established, and which are incorporated herein. Parties can obtain a copy of such
regulations from the Clerk’s office.
(b) Requests that this Rule covers include an order, subpoena, or other demand of a
court or administrative or other authority, of competent jurisdiction, under color of law, or any
other request by whatever method, for the production, disclosure, or release of information or
records by the federal judiciary, or for the appearance and testimony of federal judicial personnel
as witnesses as to matters arising out of the performance of their official duties, in legal
proceedings. This includes requests for voluntary production or testimony in the absence of any
legal process.
(c) This Rule does not apply to requests that members of the public make, when
properly made through the procedures that the Court has established for records or documents,
such as court files or dockets, routinely made available to members of the public for inspection
or copying.
(d) In any request for testimony or production of records, the party shall set forth a
written statement explaining the nature of the testimony or records the party seeks, the relevance
of that testimony or those records to the legal proceedings, and the reasons why that testimony or
those records, or the information contained therein, are not readily available from other sources
or by other means. This explanation shall contain sufficient information for the determining
officer to decide whether or not federal judicial personnel should be allowed to testify, or the
records should be produced. Where the request does not contain an explanation sufficient for
this purpose, the determining officer may deny the request or may ask the requester to provide
additional information. The request for testimony or production of records shall be provided to
the federal judicial personnel from whom testimony or production of records is sought at least
twenty-one (21) days in advance of the date on which the testimony or production of records is
required. Failure to meet this requirement shall provide a sufficient basis for denial of the
request.
(e) In the case of a request directed to a district judge or a magistrate judge or
directed to a current or former member of such a judge’s personal staff, the determining officer
shall be the district judge or the magistrate judge.
(f) Procedures to be followed.
1. In the case of a request directed to an employee or former employee of the Clerk’s
office, the determining officer shall be the Clerk. The Clerk shall consult with the
Chief Judge for determination of the proper response to a request.
2. In the case of a request directed to an employee or former employee of the
Probation Office, the determining officer will be the Chief Probation Officer or
his or her designee. The determining officer shall consult with the Chief Judge or
his or her designee regarding the proper response to a request. The Chief
Probation Officer’s designee(s) will be the officer to whom the request is directed
and the officer's supervisor or manager. The Chief Judge’s designee will be the
judge who sentenced the offender who made the request or whose records are the
subject of the request. Requests for disclosure, other than subpoenas, not
otherwise covered by memorandum of understanding, statute, rule of procedure,
regulation, case law, or court-approved local policy, will be presented to the
sentencing judge, or in that judge’s absence, the Chief Judge, for approval. All
subpoenas will be presented to the Court.
