PART IV — ELECTRONIC FILING, SERVICE, FEES, PRIVACY, AND DOCUMENT FORM
Rule 35. Court records, public access, retention, and deletion
Official record categories
The Court’s records include:
case and party data;
the docket and every filing status;
each filed document and Bates number;
lower-court records and certified indices;
proofs and returns of service;
orders, judgments, mandates, opinions, and separate writings;
authorized recordings, transcripts, exhibits, and demonstratives;
fee assessments and decisions;
access, custody, and mutation audit logs;
rejection reasons and corrected-version history; and
another record required by law or Court order.
Operational access
Supreme Court matters are maintained in a restricted ECMS tier. Parties, lead counsel, eligible Justices, and Supreme staff receive access according to role. A Superior-court-only Clerk has no Supreme staff access.
Public register and archive
For every nonconfidential matter, the Clerk must separately publish:
the caption and case number;
the originating tribunal and nature of review;
filing, grant, argument, submission, and disposition dates;
the public calendar;
nonconfidential orders and opinions;
the mandate or disposition; and
any other material required for the State Reporter or State archives.
The Clerk must publish Supreme decisions and proceedings granted review even though the ECMS itself is nonpublic.
Restricted items
Pending and Rejected filings, rejection reasons, internal deliberations, draft opinions, privileged communications, security records, and material protected by law are not public unless the Court lawfully orders otherwise. The public register should indicate a restricted event only when doing so does not reveal protected information.
Record requests
The Judicial Branch must designate a freedom-of-information officer and public request method. The officer must make initial contact within three days after receipt of a request and provide a final response then or within any additional period permitted by law, including a lawful extension of no more than four additional days where applicable. A denial or redaction must identify its legal basis.
No removal or alteration
No filed record may be removed, overwritten, backdated, or materially altered. An error is corrected by an audit-preserving notation, corrected filing, errata, or amended order.
Administrative deletion
An administrator may delete a case only if:
it is a documented test, exact technical duplicate, or case created solely by verified system malfunction;
no genuine party relied on it and no judicial decision was entered;
the Chief Justice and Clerk approve a written deletion order;
a complete export and audit log are preserved; and
the deletion is recorded in a permanent administrative register.
No genuine case, Accepted filing, Rejected filing, decision, or mandate may be deleted for convenience, inactivity, embarrassment, office turnover, or settlement.
Certified copies and seal
The Clerk may certify a copy or docket extract and affix the Court’s seal. A digital certification must identify the document, case, version, and certification date.