Confidential Information Filing Requirements

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court amended the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System (UJS) of Pennsylvania, which took effect January 1, 2022. Under this amended policy, documents containing Confidential Information are no longer filed in two versions – redacted and unredacted – as has been the practice in Allegheny County. Effective January 1, 2022, Confidential Information must be redacted from the original document by the filing party and included on a separate statewide Confidential Information Form. The redacted, original document and a Confidential Information Form must be filed simultaneously.

Under the Policy, a “Confidential Document” includes:

• • • Financial Source Documents;
    • Minors’ educational records;
    • Medical/Psychological records;
    • Children and Youth Services’ records;
    • Marital Property Inventory and Pre-Trial Statement as provided in Pa.R.C.P. No. 1920.33;
    • Income and Expense Statement as provided in Pa.R.C.P. No. 1910.27(c); and
    • Agreements between the parties as used in 23 Pa.C.S. Section 3105

Under this local rule, a person filing a document in Allegheny County containing “Confidential Information” as defined in Section 7.0 of the Policy must file that document in duplicate with an unredacted original and a copy with all “Confidential Information” redacted.

When e-filing, however, the filer should not use the Fifth Judicial District Unredacted Original Cover Sheet but rather will be prompted to upload the unredacted original document separately from the redacted version.

Under the Policy, “Confidential Information” includes:

• • • Social Security Numbers;
    • Financial Account Numbers, except an active financial account number may be identified by the last four digits when the financial account is the subject of the case and cannot otherwise be identified;
    • Driver License Numbers;
    • State Identification (SID) Numbers;
    • Minors’ names and dates of birth except when a minor is charged as a defendant in a criminal matter (see 42 Pa.C.S. Section 6355); and
    • Abuse victim’s address and other contact information, including employer’s name, address and work schedule, in family court actions as defined by Pa.R.C.P. No. 1931(a), except for victim’s name.

Filing Documents Containing Confidential Information in Magisterial District Courts (Section 7.0):

When filing a document containing Confidential Information in a Magisterial District Court, a Confidential Information must be filed on a separate Confidential Information Form filed contemporaneously with the document.

The Confidential Information Form may be downloaded and is also available at the Magisterial District Courts.

Under the Policy, “Confidential Information” includes:

• • • Social Security Numbers;
    • Financial Account Numbers, except an active financial account number may be identified by the last four digits when the financial account is the subject of the case and cannot otherwise be identified;
    • Driver License Numbers;
    • State Identification (SID) Numbers;
    • Minors’ names and dates of birth except when a minor is charged as a defendant in a criminal matter (see 42 Pa.C.S. Section 6355); and
    • Abuse victim’s address and other contact information, including employer’s name, address and work schedule, in family court actions as defined by Pa.R.C.P. No. 1931(a), except for victim’s name.

Attaching Certificate of Compliance

The Policy requires filers to include a Certificate of Compliance with all their filings certifying that they are complying with the requirements of the Policy.  There are two instances when a separate Certificate of Compliance is not required:

• When e-filing in Allegheny County, it is not necessary to include a Certificate of Compliance, as the e-filing system will require you to check a “compliance checkbox” that will serve as the Certificate of Compliance.
• When filing a “Confidential Document” using a Confidential Document Form, a separate Certificate of Compliance is not required as the Certificate of Compliance language is included on the Confidential Document Form.

Exceptions to Requirements

Confidential Document Forms and/or Redacted/Unredacted copies need not be used in matters in which the documents filed by the parties are otherwise completely confidential by law or rule and unavailable for public access including, but not limited to:

• • • Act 53 Proceedings
    • Adoptions
    • Dependency Proceedings
    • Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings that are completely confidential pursuant to applicable rules and statute
    • Pennsylvania Judicial Bypass Proceedings
    • Support Proceedings
    • Incapacity proceedings filed pursuant to 20 Pa.C.S. Sections 5501-5555
    • Proceedings under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 711(9)
    • Confidential proceedings under the Mental Health Procedures Act, 50 P.S. Section 7101 et. sec.
    • Matters under seal in the Civil Division that are unavailable for public access
    • Documents filed under seal in the Civil Division that are unavailable for public access

Certificates of Compliance are still required in these matters

Further information regarding the Statewide Policy can be found at the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania’s website.