Conn. Practice Book § 25-59 (2026)

Sec. 25-59 HISTORY—2003: Prior to 2003, when both the title and text were amended, Section 25-59 read: ‘‘Closed Hearings and Records ‘‘Subject to the provision of Section 11-20, any family matter may be heard in chambers or in a courtroom from which the public and press have been excluded, and the records and other papers in any family matter may be ordered by the court to be kept confidential and not to be open to inspection except under order of the court or a judge thereof.’’ COMMENTARY—2003: The public and press enjoy a right of access to attend trials in civil as well as criminal cases. Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 478 U.S. 1, 10, 106 S. Ct. 2735, 92 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1986); Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596, 606, 102 S. Ct. 2613, 73 L. Ed. 2d 248 (1982); Westmoreland v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 752 F.2d 16, 22 (2d Cir. 1984). For a further discussion of court closure, see the Commen- tary to Sections 11-20 and 42-49. It is intended that the above rule also apply to family support magistrates. HISTORY—2005: Prior to 2005, the third sentence of sub- section (d) read: ‘‘The time, date and scope of any such order shall be in writing and shall be signed by the judicial authority and be entered by the court clerk in the court file.’’ COMMENTARY—2005: As used in subsection (a) above, the words ‘‘Except as otherwise provided by law’’ are intended to exempt from the operation of this rule all established proce- dures for the closure of courtroom proceedings as required or permitted by statute; e.g., General Statutes §§ 19a-583 (a) (10) (D) (pertaining to court proceedings as to disclosure of confidential HIV-related information), 36a-21 (b) (pertaining to court proceedings at which certain records of the Department of Banking are disclosed), 46b-11 (pertaining to hearings in family relations matters), 54-86c (b) (pertaining to the disclo- sure of exculpatory information or material), 54-86f (pertaining to the admissibility of evidence of sexual conduct) and 54-86g (pertaining to the testimony of a victim of child abuse); other rules of practice; e.g., Practice Book Section 40-43; and/or controlling state or federal case law. The above amendment to subsection (d) establishes a mechanism by which the public and the press, who are empow- ered by this rule to object to pending motions to close the courtroom in family matters, will receive timely notice of the court’s disposition of such motions. HISTORY—2012: Prior to 2012, the last sentence of sub- section (e) read: ‘‘A copy of the short calendar page containing the aforesaid section shall, upon issuance of the short calen- dar, be posted on a bulletin board adjacent to the clerk’s office and accessible to the public.’’ COMMENTARY—2012: The above amendment is intended to provide for the electronic filing and processing of documents and orders, and the maintenance of court records, where the present terminology, filing requirements or pro- cesses that are applicable in a paper environment result in confusion or redundancy when applied to an electronic envi- ronment. Sec. 25-59A. Sealing Files or Limiting Dis- closure of Documents in Family Matters (a) Except as otherwise provided by law, there shall be a presumption that documents filed with the court shall be available to the public. (b) Except as provided in this section and except as otherwise provided by law, including Section 13-5, the judicial authority shall not order that any files, affidavits, documents, or other 316 materials on file with the court or filed in connec- tion with a court proceeding be sealed or their disclosure limited. (c) Upon written motion of any party, or upon its own motion, the judicial authority may order that files, affidavits, documents, or other materials on file or lodged with the court or in connection with a court proceeding be sealed or their disclo- sure limited only if the judicial authority concludes that such order is necessary to preserve an inter- est which is determined to override the public’s interest in viewing such materials. The judicial authority shall first consider reasonable alterna- tives to any such order and any such order shall be no broader than necessary to protect such overriding interest. An agreement of the parties to seal or limit the disclosure of documents on file with the court or filed in connection with a court proceeding shall not constitute a sufficient basis for the issuance of such an order. (d) In connection with any order issued pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the judicial authority shall articulate the overriding interest being protected and shall specify its findings underlying such order and the duration of such order. If any findings would reveal information entitled to remain confidential, those findings may be set forth in a sealed portion of the record. The time, date, scope and duration of any such order shall be set forth in a writing signed by the judicial authority which upon issuance the court clerk shall immediately enter in the court file. The judicial authority shall order that a transcript of its decision be included in the file or prepare a memorandum setting forth the reasons for its order. (e) Except as otherwise ordered by the judicial authority, a motion to seal or limit the disclosure of affidavits, documents, or other materials on file or lodged with the court or filed in connection with a court proceeding shall be calendared so that notice to the public is given of the time and place of the hearing on the motion and to afford the public an opportunity to be heard on the motion under consideration. The procedures set forth in Sections 7-4B and 7-4C shall be followed in con- nection with a motion to file affidavits, documents or other materials under seal or to limit their dis- closure. (f) (1) A motion to seal the contents of an entire court file shall be placed on the short calendar to be held not less than fifteen days following the filing of the motion, unless the judicial authority otherwise directs, so that notice to the public is given of the time and place of the hearing on the motion and to afford the public an opportunity to be heard on the motion under consideration. The

© Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut SUPERIOR COURT—PROCEDURE IN FAMILY MATTERS Sec. 25-59A procedures set forth in Sections 7-4B and 7-4C shall be followed in connection with such motion. (2) The judicial authority may issue an order sealing the contents of an entire court file only upon a finding that there is not available a more narrowly tailored method of protecting the over- riding interest, such as redaction or sealing a por- tion of the file. The judicial authority shall state in its decision or order each of the more narrowly tailored methods that was considered and the reason each such method was unavailable or inadequate. (g) The provisions of this section shall not apply to settlement conferences or negotiations or to documents submitted to the court in connection with such conferences or negotiations. The provisions of this section shall apply to settlement agree- ments which have been filed with the court or have been incorporated into a judgment of the court. (h) Sworn statements of current income, expenses, assets and liabilities filed with the court pursuant to Sections 25-30 and 25a-15 shall be under seal and be disclosable only to the judicial authority, to court personnel, to the parties to the action and their attorneys, and to any guardians ad litem and attorneys appointed for any minor children involved in the matter, except as other- wise ordered by the judicial authority. Any person may file a motion to unseal these documents. When such motion is filed, the provisions of para- graphs (a) through (e) of this section shall apply and the party who filed the documents shall have the burden of proving that they should remain sealed. The judicial authority shall order that the automatic sealing pursuant to this paragraph shall terminate with respect to all such sworn state- ments then on file with the court when any hearing is held at which financial issues are in dispute. This shall not preclude a party from filing a motion to seal or limit disclosure of such sworn state- ments pursuant to this section. (i) Any Income Withholding for Support form (JD-FM-1) filed with the clerk’s office, after being signed by the clerk, shall be returned to the filer for service on the payer of income. A copy of the signed form shall be retained for the court file and shall be under seal. Any such copy shall be disclosable only to the judicial authority, to court personnel, to the parties to the action and their attorneys, and to any individual or entity under cooperative agreement with the Title IV-D agency requesting disclosure of such form in the adminis- tration of the child support program. Any person may file a motion to unseal this document. A copy of the signed form with all Social Security numbers and dates of birth redacted by the clerk shall be 317 retained in the court file and be available for pub- lic inspection. (j) When placed on a short calendar, motions filed under this rule shall be listed in a separate section titled "Motions to Seal or Close" and shall also be listed with the time, date and place of the hearing on the Judicial Branch website. A notice of such motion being placed on the short calendar shall, upon issuance of the short calendar, be posted on a bulletin board adjacent to the clerk’s office and accessible to the public. (Adopted May 14, 2003, to take effect July 1, 2003; amended June 21, 2004, to take effect Jan. 1, 2005; amended June 20, 2011, to take effect Jan. 1, 2012; amended June 14, 2013, to take effect Jan. 1, 2014; amended June 12, 2015, to take effect Jan. 1, 2016.) COMMENTARY—2003: The public and press enjoy a right of access to attend trials in civil as well as criminal cases. See Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 608, 98 S. Ct. 1306, 55 L. Ed. 2d 570 (1978). The guarantee of open public proceedings in civil trials applies as well to the sealing of court documents. See Publicker Industries, Inc. v. Cohen, 733 F.2d 1059, 1070–71 (3d Cir. 1984). See also the Commentary to Section 42-49A. Subsection (h) is intended to minimize the potential for abuse that can result when personal financial information is made available to persons who engage in identity theft or other illegal activities. It is intended that subsection (h) not apply retroactively to sworn statements that have been filed before the effective date of this rule. It is intended that the above rule also apply to family sup- port magistrates. It is intended that the use of pseudonyms in place of the name of a party or parties not be permitted in family cases. HISTORY—2005: Prior to 2005, the third sentence of sub- section (d) read: ‘‘The time, date, scope and duration of any such order shall forthwith be reduced to writing and be signed by the judicial authority and entered by the court clerk in the court file.’’ In 2005, in the first sentence of subsection (h), a comma was substituted for ‘‘and’’ between ‘‘court personnel’’ and ‘‘to the parties’’ and the words ‘‘and to any guardians ad litem and attorneys appointed for any minor children involved in the matter,’’ were inserted. COMMENTARY—2005: As used in subsection (a) above, the words ‘‘Except as otherwise provided by law’’ are intended to exempt from the operation of this rule all established proce- dures for the sealing or ex parte filing, in camera inspection and/or nondisclosure to the public of documents, records and other materials, as required or permitted by statute; e.g., Gen- eral Statutes §§ 12-242vv (pertaining to taxpayer information), 52-146c et seq. (pertaining to the disclosure of psychiatric records) and 54-56g (pertaining to the pretrial alcohol educa- tion program); other rules of practice; e.g., Practice Book Sec- tions 7-18, 13-5 (6) through (8) and 40-13 (c); and/or controlling state or federal case law; e.g., Matza v. Matza, 226 Conn. 166, 627 A.2d 414 (1993) (establishing a procedure whereby an attorney seeking to withdraw from a case due to his client’s anticipated perjury at trial may support his motion to withdraw by filing a sealed affidavit for the court’s review). The above amendment to subsection (d) establishes a mechanism by which the public and the press, who are empow- ered by this rule to object to pending motions to seal files or limit the disclosure of documents in family matters, will receive timely notice of the court’s disposition of such motions.

© Copyrighted by the Secretary of the State of the State of Connecticut SUPERIOR COURT—PROCEDURE IN FAMILY MATTERS