1:38-3. Court Records Excluded from Public Access
The following court records are excluded from public access:
(a) General.
Records required to be kept confidential by statute, rule, or prior case
law consistent with this rule, unless otherwise ordered by a court.
These records remain confidential even when attached to a non-
confidential document.
(b) Internal Records.
(1) Notes, memoranda, draft opinions, or other working papers
maintained in any form by or for the use of a justice, judge, or judiciary
staff member in the course of performing official duties, except those
notes, not otherwise excluded from public access under this rule, that
are required by rule or law, e.g., R. 7:2-1(d), to be taken as part of the
record of the proceeding;
(2) Records of consultative, advisory, or deliberative discussions
pertaining to the rendering of decisions or the management of cases.
(c) Records of Criminal and Municipal Court Proceedings.
(1) Discovery materials provided to the Criminal Division Manager’s
office by the prosecutor pursuant to R. 3:9-1 and R. 3:13-3;
(2) Writs to produce prisoners pending execution of the writ;
(3) Indictments sealed pursuant to R. 3:6-8(a);
(4) Records relating to grand jury proceedings pursuant to R. 3:6-7
except as provided by R. 3:6-6(b) and R. 3:6-9(d);
(5) Records relating to participants in drug court programs and
programs approved for operation under R. 3:28 (Pre-trial Intervention),
and reports made for a court or prosecuting attorney pertaining to
persons enrolled in or applications for enrollment in such programs, but
not the fact of enrollment and the enrollment conditions imposed by the
court;
(6) Victim statements unless placed on the record at a public
proceeding;
(7) Expunged records pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:52-15;
(8) Reports of the Diagnostic Center to the extent provided under R.
3:21-3;
(9) Records relating to child victims of sexual assault or abuse
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:82-46;
(10) Search warrants pursuant to Rule 3:5-4 and the affidavit or
testimony upon which a warrant is based, except as provided in Rules
3:5-6(c) and 3:13-3;
(11) Documents, records and transcripts related to proceedings and
hearings required by the Supreme Court pursuant to Doe v. Poritz, 142
N.J. 1, 39 (1995), or subsequent orders of the Court.
(d) Records of Family Part Proceedings.
(1) Family Case Information Statements required by R. 5:5-2 including
all attachments;
(2) Confidential Litigant Information Sheets pursuant to R. 5:4-2(g);
(3) Medical, psychiatric, psychological, and alcohol and drug
dependency records, reports, and evaluations in matters related to child
support, child custody, or parenting time determinations;
(4) Documents, records and transcripts related to proceedings and
hearings required by the Supreme Court pursuant to Doe v. Poritz, 142
N.J. 1, 39 (1995), or subsequent orders of the Court;
(5) Juvenile delinquency records and reports pursuant to R. 5:19-2 and
N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-60;
(6) Records of Juvenile Conference Committees to the extent provided
under R. 5:25-1(e);
(7) Expunged juvenile records pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-62f and
2C:52-15;
(8) Sealed juvenile records pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-62;
(9) Domestic violence records and reports pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:25-
33;
(10) Names and addresses of victims or alleged victims of domestic
violence pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:25-26c, or sexual offenses pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 2C:14-12c;
(11) Records relating to child victims of sexual assault or abuse
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:82-46;
(12) Records relating to Division of Youth and Family Services
proceedings held pursuant to R. 5:12;
(13) Child custody evaluations, reports, and records pursuant to R. 5:8-
4, R. 5:8B, N.J.S.A. 9:2-1, or N.J.S.A. 9:2-3;
(14) Paternity records and reports, except for the final judgments or birth
certificates pursuant to N.J.S.A. 9:17-42;
(15) Records and reports relating to child placement matters pursuant to
R. 5:13-8(a);
(16) Adoption records and reports pursuant to N.J.S.A. 9:3-52;
(17) Records of hearings on the welfare or status of a child, to the extent
provided under R. 5:3-2.
(e) Records of Surrogate Proceedings.
Guardianship records and reports maintained by the Surrogate,
except that such records will be made available to the spouse or family
members to the third degree of consanguinity of the ward. Any other
individual or entity seeking such records must demonstrate before a
Superior Court judge a special interest in the matter.
(f) Records of Other Proceedings.
(1) Records pertaining to mediation sessions and complementary
dispute resolution proceedings pursuant to R. 1:40-4(d) and R. 7:8-1,
but not the fact that mediation has occurred;
(2) Records and transcripts of civil commitment proceedings, pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 30:4-24.3, N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.27(c), N.J.S.A. 30:4-82.4h, R.
4:74-7, and R.4:74-7A;
(3) Police investigative reports, unless admitted into evidence or
submitted to the court in support of a motion, brief, or other pleading;
(4) Records that are impounded, sealed pursuant to R. 1:38-11, or
subject to a protective order pursuant to R. 4:10-3;
(5) Criminal, Family, and Probation Division records pertaining to any
investigations and reports made by court staff or pursuant to court
order for a court or pertaining to persons on probation;
(6) Family, Finance and Probation Division records containing
information pertaining to persons receiving or ordered to pay child
support, including the child(ren); custodial parents; non-custodial
parents; legal guardians; putative fathers; family members and any
other individuals for whom information may be collected and retained
by the court in connection with child support cases subject to Title IV-D
of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §651 et seq. and applicable state
and federal statutes, but not the complaint or orders in such cases.
