Iowa R. Elec. P. 16.605

16.605(1) Documents created for filing with the court. When protected information that is

required by law or that is material to the proceedings must be included in a document that a filer

is creating specifically for filing with the court, when reasonably practicable only a portion of the

protected information should be used.

COMMENT:

Rule 16.605(1). Examples of portions of protected information include: if a Social Security number must be included in a

document, only the last digit of that number is used; if financial account numbers are relevant, only incomplete numbers are

recited in the document; if a person’s date of birth is necessary, only the year is used; if a minor child’s name must be

mentioned, only the child’s initials are used.

16.605(2) Original documents that are required to be filed with the court.

a. When an original document contains protected information that is required by law or is

material to the proceedings as specified in rule 16.602, the filer must redact that information.

b. The unredacted version of the original document must be filed if such filing is required by

law or the redacted information may be material to the proceeding.

c. If an original document has multiple pages that contain entirely protected information, a

single page may be submitted in the public version of the document.

d. If a paper document contains protected information, the filer is responsible for making the

same redactions on paper before filing the document that are required for electronic filings in rule

16.605. For original documents that have not been created by the filer, the filer must deliver both

a redacted version and the original version of the document to the clerk of court unless rule

16.605(2)(c) applies.

COMMENT:

Rule 16.605(2)(a) and (b). If the unredacted version must be filed, the filer must scan in and file the unredacted version.

The filer then must scan and file the redacted version, selecting “Redaction” as the document type on the electronic cover

sheet. The filer must then relate the redaction to the original document. EDMS will file the unredacted version as restricted

access and the redacted version as the public version of the document. For example, when filing an original birth certificate

into a change of name case, the filer makes a copy of the birth certificate, using a permanent marker to black out the date of

birth on the copy. The filer then scans and files the original birth certificate as an exhibit or attachment, then scans and files

the redacted copy as a redaction. Only the redacted copy will be available to the public. A filer should not rely on software to

redact protected information as the information may in fact be retrievable. Documents redacted in this way may be alterable

and the protected information revealed.