Handbook on Trial Court Rule VIII: Section 2 – Uniform Practice I – Clerk’s Handling of Impounded Material

This content is one section of the larger Handbook on Trial Court Rule VIII, The Uniform Rules of Impoundment Procedure. For use with the 2015 Amendments to the Uniform Rules on Impounding Procedure.

To promote uniformity and consistency, the following practices are recommended for all clerks to follow when handling impounded information or materials.
 

(A). Presumption of Openness

1. Case records are public unless access is restricted by statute, court rule, standing order, case law, or a court order.
2. Every person has the right to inspect a public record free of charge during normal working hours.
3. The clerk should not inquire of a person's motive in requesting to view a public record. The court may require that a request for a copy be made in writing.
4. The clerk may not permit any original case record to be taken from the court without an order of the court. If so ordered, the original case folder and a copy of the docket shall be maintained until the records are returned. Note: Transfer of the file for the purposes of a judge's rotation, interdepartmental transfer, consolidation, or for an appeal, does not constitute the taking or removal of the case record. An order of the court is not required for the case record, including confidential information, to be transferred or sent to another court.
5. When an entire case record is impounded, its docket number and a case caption shall remain public. The case caption shall be revised to omit the parties' names.

(B). Filing of Motions for Impoundment or Documents Containing Impounded Material

1. Motions for impoundment and related papers shall be publicly docketed, unless the case itself is required by statute to be impounded. The fact that a motion for impoundment has been filed is not kept confidential, and the public is entitled to access the motion and supporting affidavit.
2. Filers seeking to submit documents or other materials containing impounded information shall notify the clerk that the filing includes impounded information. See URIP Rule 13.
3. The clerk shall docket any notice of the filing of impounded material and impound the designated information or filing. The clerk has inherent authority to verify the notice's designation to the referenced record and, where appropriate, may notify the filer that the notice is incorrect.
4. Filers seeking to submit documents or other material containing impounded information should provide such documents or materials in a separate, clearly marked envelope or file.
5. Filers seeking to obtain an order of impoundment should not submit the proposed impounded documents or materials along with the motion to impound. However, when the court orders a filer to submit proposed impounded material for in camera review, the clerk shall either stamp the materials as “impounded” or attach a copy of any resulting order to the envelope or other container holding the impounded material.
6. Entries in a public docket shall not reveal impounded or confidential information. For instance, the docket entry of a motion for discovery of the medical records of a sexual assault crime victim should use a pseudonym and not reveal the victim's name. See G. L. c. 265, § 24C. See also New England Internet Café, LLC v. Clerk of the Superior Court for Criminal Business in Suffolk County, 462 Mass. 76 (2012) (discussing impoundment of search warrant application materials).

(C). Entry on the Docket and Index

1. The clerk should always include a case caption and case number in the docket and index, even if the case or a party's name is impounded.
2. The case caption on the clerk's case docket and index may be amended to prevent disclosure of the names of impounded parties, including in conformance with any specific instruction entered in the court's impoundment order.
3. Where the case is public and contains no impounded information or material, the case shall be entered in the normal course (i.e., with the docket and index recording the parties' names in the case caption).
4. If the case contains some impounded information or material but is otherwise public, the docket should contain a reference or status that permits court staff to identify the specific information or material that is impounded. For example:
   1. Partially Impounded. A case is partially impounded when it is otherwise public but contains some impounded information (e.g., sexual assault victim's name) or an impounded document (e.g., divorce financial statement). In a partially impounded case, only the specified impounded information is withheld from public inspection and should be designated as "impounded," "restricted," or otherwise identified as inaccessible. The remainder of the case record is public, and the clerk's office staff must be vigilant in protecting the impounded information.; or
   2. Impounded. An impounded case includes a case that is fully impounded and is deemed impounded pursuant to a statute, court rule, standing order, case law, or court order. A case that is impounded by law includes a proceeding involving care and protection matters, juvenile delinquency, the Sex Offender Registry Board, and CHINS/CRA cases. For these matters, only the case caption, case number, and reason for impoundment are public, provided the case caption is redacted to ensure that the parties' names or any impounded information is not revealed.
5. The docket for a partially impounded or fully impounded case should reference the authority for the impoundment by noting the court's order, the governing statute, court rule, standing order, or case law.
6. When a party's name is impounded, the case name should be changed to protect the litigant's identity (e.g., “Impounded Plaintiff” or “Impounded Defendant”).
7. On the rare occasion when the court orders the docket impounded in a case that otherwise would be public, the docket shall nonetheless publicly provide the legal basis for the impoundment designation, such as the case nature or the court's order, as well as make publicly available any motion for impoundment and supporting affidavit.

(D). Storage of Impoundment Matters

1. If the court facility has the necessary physical space to do so, impounded documents and materials should be stored in a separate location in a secured room, apart from public case records.
2. If separate storage space is not available, the impounded documents and materials may be stored with the case record in a sealed envelope that is conspicuously marked “impounded.”
3. The clerk may limit only certain court staff to have access to impounded documents.
4. Once the impoundment order is terminated or expires, the clerk shall return impounded information to the public file.

(E). Response by Court Staff to Requests or Inquiries for Impounded Information

1. To ensure that procedures are carried out uniformly and correctly, only authorized personnel should be assigned the responsibility of processing requests for impounded case records. Inquiries regarding these records should be referred to authorized personnel.
2. A clerk may respond to an inquiry from nonparties for impounded information by stating the following: “There is no public record”; “The record is impounded pursuant to a court order”; “I cannot provide further information because those records are not public pursuant to a statute, etc.”
3. Under URIP Rule 9, the impounded material shall be available to the court, the clerk and designated court personnel, the attorneys of record, the parties to the case, and other persons designated by the court, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
4. The clerk has no authority to impound or allow a motion for impoundment. The clerk is empowered only to (i) provisionally withhold from public inspection material that is the subject of a pending motion for impoundment pursuant to URIP Rule 2(b)(2) or Rule 2(b)(3), or (ii) impound information as required by a statute, court rule, standing order, court order, or case law.

Date published:	August 27, 2017
Last updated:	January 7, 2026