Wisconsin § 801.19 - Protected information in circuit court records.

§ 801.19. Protected information in circuit court records.

801.19(1) (1) Definitions. In this section: 801.19(1)(a) (a) “Protected information” means any of the following contained in a circuit court record: 801.19(1)(a)1. 1. A social security number. 801.19(1)(a)2. 2. An employer or taxpayer identification number. 801.19(1)(a)3. 3. A financial account number. 801.19(1)(a)4. 4. A driver license number. 801.19(1)(a)5. 5. A passport number. 801.19(1)(b) (b) “Protected information form” means a form provided by the circuit court under SCR 70.153 for the purpose of submitting protected information in the manner described by this section. 801.19(1)(c) (c) “Redact” means to obscure individual items of information within an otherwise publicly accessible document. 801.19(1)(d) (d) “Seal” means to order that a portion of a document or an entire document shall not be accessible to the public. 801.19(2) (2) Required omission or redaction of protected information. 801.19(2)(a) (a) To retain privacy and prevent misuse of personal information, no party shall, on or after July 1, 2016, submit protected information in any document filed in any action or proceeding in circuit court except in the manner provided by this section. 801.19(2)(b) (b) Except as provided in par. (c) , the parties to the action are solely responsible for ensuring that protected information does not appear in any document filed with the court. The court will not review each document filed by a party for compliance with this section. Protected information that is not properly submitted is accessible to the public to the same extent as the rest of the court record. 801.19(2)(c) (c) A party shall omit or redact protected information from documents filed with the court unless the protected information is required by law or is necessary to the action. When protected information is provided to the court, a party shall omit or redact it from any documents filed and shall provide it to the court subject to all of the following: 801.19(2)(c)1. 1. When submitting an original document such as a pleading, a party shall omit the protected information from the document. If the protected information is required by law or is necessary to the action, the party shall submit it separately on the protected information form. 801.19(2)(c)2. 2. When submitting a previously existing document such as an exhibit, a party shall redact all protected information from a copy of the document. The party shall submit the redacted copy for the public case file. If the protected information is required by law or is necessary to the action, the party shall submit it separately on the protected information form. The court may require the submitting party to produce the original unredacted document if necessary. 801.19(2)(c)3. 3. If redaction of a document is impracticable, the document may be attached to the protected information form without redaction. Any disagreement as to proper redaction of protected information shall be decided by the court. 801.19(2)(d) (d) The protected information form and attachments are not accessible to the public, even if admitted as a trial or hearing exhibit, unless the court permits access. The clerk of circuit court or register in probate may certify the record as a true copy of an original record on file with the court by stating that information has been redacted or sealed in accordance with court rules or as ordered by the circuit court. 801.19(2)(e) (e) In actions affecting the family, protected information may be submitted together with the information protected by ss.