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. (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 and Financial Statements in Summary Support Actions required by R. 5:5-3, 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 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 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) 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 reacted 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, 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. (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.