§ 6-1524.Protection of personal and financial information in criminal records.
Article 15: Uniform District Court Rules of Practice and Procedure · Last amended January 1, 2022 · Last verified July 22, 2026
Full Text of § 6-1524
Amendment History
§ 6-1524 adopted February 27, 2013; § 6-1524 amended September 16, 2015; § 6-1524 amended June 9, 2021, effective January 1, 2022.
Plain-English Summary
Criminal case files are public, and Section 6-1524 addresses what should not be visible in them. Any filing containing a Social Security number, a taxpayer identification number, a birth date, the name of a known minor, or a financial account number generally has to be pared down: only a bare reference to the Social Security or taxpayer number (no digits at all), the birth year rather than the full date, a minor’s initials instead of a full name, and the last four digits of an account number.
That redaction requirement does not apply across the board. It does not cover a defendant’s own birth date or name, a financial account or property address at stake in a forfeiture proceeding, records of administrative or agency proceedings, records from another court that were not subject to this rule when originally filed, or filings made under seal covered elsewhere in the rule. So a defendant cannot use this rule to hide their own identity, but the rule still protects third parties whose information happens to appear in the file.
Crime victims get separate treatment. Beyond a victim’s name, other personal identifying information has to stay off publicly available filings, using a Crime Victim Information Form the county attorney completes at the time of initial filing and tenders separately from the rest of the case file, marked confidential and kept apart from the public record by the clerk. Courts also retain flexibility: a filing can go under seal without redaction for good cause, additional information can be ordered redacted, a filer can submit both a redacted public version and an unredacted sealed version, or a party can use a sealed reference list that maps redacted identifiers back to the underlying information. As with the civil-records rule, the duty to redact rests with counsel of record, not the clerk.
Frequently Asked Questions
What personal information has to be redacted from a criminal case filing?
Social Security numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, birth dates, the names of known minors, and financial account numbers, unless an exemption applies.
Does this rule require redacting the defendant’s own name and birth date?
No. The redaction requirement specifically exempts the birth date and name of a defendant or person subject to detention.
How is a crime victim’s information protected under this rule?
Beyond the victim’s name, personal identifying information is kept off publicly available filings using a Crime Victim Information Form completed by the county attorney and kept separate from the public case file.
Can a party file both a redacted and an unredacted version of a document?
Yes. A person making a redacted filing may also file an unredacted copy under seal, which the court retains as part of the sealed record.
What is a reference list, and how does it work with redacted filings?
It is a sealed list identifying each item of redacted information along with a corresponding identifier used in the filing. Any reference to that identifier in the case is read as referring to the actual information on the sealed list.
Who is responsible for redacting information under this rule?
Counsel of record. The clerk of the court is not required to review filings for compliance, though a clerk who notices a violation may choose to provide a redacted copy for public access while preserving the original.