Court Records
Sealed Court Records
Court records not only contain information about arrests, indictments and convictions from criminal law cases, but about court cases in “civil law”. Civil court records might include vital record information like birth certificates and death certificates, but also marriage licenses and divorce proceedings.
In most of these cases, judges make court records available to the public. But there are certain cases where records are sealed for one reason or another, because the judge decides the information in the court archives is to sensitive for the public eye, or that the public right to know doesn’t outweigh a private individual’s right to privacy. Even in cases where the judge has not sealed records, a private individual has a right to petition the court and asks those records be sealed.
Other times, court records have been sealed by an action of the judge to protect a person’s privacy or by common agreement. Even when court records have been sealed, a private individual personally involved in the case can petition the judge or court that sealed the files and ask that those court records be made public, or be released for that person to research them.
Below are a couple of common scenarios involving public court records and motions to the court to either open or seal those files. If you’re read this blog, you already know how to obtain public records. Now read how to obtain records that have been sealed, or to get a judge to seal your records.
How To Seal Court Records
A court has the legal authority to seal certain records which could be harmful to someone in the trial. Therefore, if you believe that court record information could be harmful to you or a loved one, you can apply with a court to have court records sealed.
There are cases where information is automatically sealed. Below is a list of court information which is automatically sealed, because it is deemed potentially harmful enough that it outweighs the public’s right to know under freedom of information laws.
- Juvenile Records
- Sex Assault Records
- Doctor and Patient Correspondence
- Sessions with a Licensed Mental Health Worker
Talk to your lawyer if you believe the court should seal some of your public records.
How To Petition for Court Adoption Records
If you were adopted and you believe it’s in your best interest to learn about your biological parents and the overall adoption process, you can petition the court which handled your legal adoption to release those court records to you.
There are several legitimate reasons a court might open court adoption records. One is to learn about genetic predisposition towards ilnesses, especially if you show signs of an illness. There have even been cases where court records were opened to allow an adoptee to contact other adopted siblings, in order to get an organ transplant.
Even if you have a curiosity about your birth parents and other potential siblings, half-brothers or half-sisters, you can petition the court to release your adoption records to you or unseal your vital records.
As you can see, courts and judges have a lot of leeway when deciding the status of sealed court records, so if you have a need to seal court records or unseal court records, there’s a chance the judge will sit it your way.
Related Posts
County Court Records
Municipal Court Records
Obtaining Birth Certificates
Public Birth Records
How To Find a Person’s Date of Birth
This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 3:57 am and is filed under Criminal Records, Public Records. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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