Rule 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(e), 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; and support data maintained or
created by the judiciary for use in reporting aggregate data for the purpose of statistics.
(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;
(12) Names and addresses of victims or alleged victims of domestic violence
or sexual offenses.
(d) Records of Family Part Proceedings.
(1) Family Case Information Statements required by R. 5:5-2, notices
required by R. 5:5-10 including requisite financial, custody and parenting plans, Financial
Statements in Summary Support Actions required by R. 5:5-3 including all attachments,
and settlement agreements incorporated into judgments or orders in dissolution and nondissolution
actions;
(2) Confidential Litigant Information Sheets pursuant to R. 5:4-2(g) and
Affidavits or Certifications of Insurance Coverage pursuant to R. 5:4-2(f);
(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-62 f. 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
or sexual offenses;
(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 Child Protection and Permanency
proceedings held pursuant to R. 5:12;
(13) Child custody evaluations, parenting time and visitation plans, reports,
and records pursuant to R. 5:8-4, R. 5:8-5, 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 Guardianship Proceedings.
Guardianship records and reports maintained by the Surrogate and by the
Chancery Division, Probate Part, except the guardianship index, of which only the
following information shall be available to an attorney-at-law of this state or to a title
examiner seeking access to such records in connection with transactions affecting
property of the ward: (1) minor's or incapacitated person's name, (2) name of the
municipality where the minor or incapacitated person resided when the guardianship was
created, (3) name of the guardian, (4) docket number, (5) date of the judgment appointing
the guardian, and (6) date of the guardian's qualification.
Further, an attorney-at-law or a title examiner requiring access to the guardianship
index in connection with a transaction affecting the property of the ward may inspect and
copy the following guardianship file documents: the guardianship judgment, the Letters of
Guardianship, and any subsequent order dealing with the powers or limitations of the
guardian, provided any financial information contained in these documents, including
information on the amount of the bond, is redacted prior to the documents being made
available for review or copying.
All guardianship records and reports, however, are available to the incapacitated
person and the minor upon reaching majority; the incapacitated person's spouse, civil
union partner, or domestic partner; the minor's or incapacitated person's parents and
siblings; any adult children of the incapacitated person; the guardian appointed in the
action; and any attorneys appearing in the guardianship action on behalf of these persons.
Appointed New Jersey Judiciary Guardianship Monitoring Program volunteers shall have
access to guardianship records and reports in those guardianship matters to which they
are assigned. Any other individual or entity seeking records must make a showing of a
special interest in the matter to the Assignment Judge or the Assignment Judge's
designee.
(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, civil
commitment expungement petitions and proceedings, and expunged civil commitment
records, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 30:4-24.3, N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.27(c), N.J.S.A. 30:4-80.8 - 80.11,
N.J.S.A. 30:4-82.4 h., 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, Municipal 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;
(7) Records maintained by the Judiciary that contain identifying information
about a person who has or is suspected of having AIDS or HIV infection, pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 26:5C-7, except as provided in N.J.S.A. 26:5C-8 and -9;
(8) Records of appeals from the Division of Developmental Disabilities in
accordance with N.J.S.A. 30:4-24.3;
(9) Written requests by a crime victim, or if such a person is deceased or
incapacitated, a member of that person's immediate family, for a record to which the victim
is entitled pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(b)(2).
Note: New Rule 1:38-3 adopted July 16, 2009 to be effective September 1, 2009; subparagraph (b)(1)
amended December 9, 2009 to be effective immediately; paragraphs (e) and (f) amended January 5, 2010 to
be effective immediately; subparagraph (c)(11) amended, subparagraph (c)(12) adopted, and subparagraph
(d)(10) amended February 16, 2010 to be effective immediately; subparagraph (d)(1) amended June 23,
2010 to be effective July 1, 2010; paragraph (e) amended October 26, 2010 to be effective immediately;
paragraph (e) amended February 28, 2013 to be effective immediately; subparagraph (d)(12) amended July
9, 2013 to be effective September 1, 2013; subparagraphs (f)(2) and (f)(5) amended, and new subparagraph
(f)(9) added December 9, 2014 to be effective immediately; subparagraph (d)(2) amended July 27, 2015 to
be effective September 1, 2015; subparagraph (b)(1) amended May 30, 2017 to be effective immediately;
paragraph (a) and subparagraphs (d)(1) and (d)(13) amended July 28, 2017 to be effective September 1,
2017.
