E.D.N.C. Local Criminal Rule 55.2

(a) Filing Sealed Documents.

No cases or documents may be sealed without an order from the court. A

person desiring to file a document under seal must first file a motion seeking

leave in accordance with Section V.G of the CM/ECF Policy Manual. All

sealed and proposed documents shall be maintained electronically in

CM/ECF unless otherwise ordered by the court. First-time filers are

strongly encouraged to call the CM/ECF Help Desk at 866-855-8894.

(b) Proposed Sealed Documents.

(1) Unless otherwise permitted by Section V.G of the CM/ECF Policy

Manual or order of the court, all proposed sealed documents must

be accompanied by a motion to seal. The motion to seal shall be a

public document and noted with a docket entry that gives the public

notice of the request to seal. The docket entry for the proposed

sealed document shall identify it as a “proposed” sealed document

and describe the type of document it is (e.g., affidavit, record) and

the substantive motion or other specific proceedings in the case to

which it relates (e.g., in support of defendant’s motion to compel at

D.E. ____). The proposed sealed document is deemed to be

provisionally sealed until the court rules on the motion to seal.

(2) If the motion to seal is granted, the clerk will remove the word

“proposed” from the docket entry.

(3) If the motion to seal is denied, the document will remain sealed and

the word “proposed” will remain in the docket entry for the

document in order to preserve the record. The document will not

be considered by the court, except as provided herein or as otherwise

ordered by the court. A person desiring to remove a proposed

sealed document or docket entry therefor from the docket sheet must

file a motion to strike in accordance with Local Criminal Rule 47.1.

A person whose motion to seal is denied but that desires the court to

consider a proposed sealed document as a publicly filed document

shall file the document as a public document within 3 days after

entry of the order denying the motion to seal or within such other

period as the court directs.

(c) Return of Sealed Documents.

(1) For those sealed documents not scanned into CM/ECF, upon 14

days’ notice to all parties, the clerk may destroy or dispose of the

sealed documents, unless the person who filed them retrieves them

from the clerk. This notice may occur no earlier than 30 days after

the judgment of conviction has become final and the one-year period

of limitation within which to file a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255

has expired, and in the event a § 2255 motion is filed, then after the

conclusion of the litigation. If the trial results in an acquittal or

dismissal as to all counts and all defendants, then the 30-day period

would begin to run from the date of the jury verdict or the court’s

order of acquittal or dismissal, unless the government appeals, in

which case the period would begin to run after that appellate

litigation has been completed and any proceedings on remand have

become final.

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(2) If, during the fourteen-day period after the clerk has given notice of

intent to dispose of the sealed documents, any person files an

objection to such disposition, the presiding judge in the case shall

resolve the dispute over the proposed disposition.

(d) Procedures for Manual Filers.

For those persons who are required to manually file all court documents

(i.e., unrepresented persons), proposed sealed documents shall be delivered

to the clerk’s office in paper form in a sealed envelope. The proposed

sealed documents must be accompanied by a motion to seal in accordance

with Section V.G of the CM/ECF Policy Manual. Both the documents and

the envelope shall be prominently labeled “UNDER SEAL.” The envelope

must also have written on it: the case caption; the case number; the title of

the document or, if the title contains proposed sealed information, the title

omitting the proposed sealed information; and the following notice in all

capital letters and prominently displayed:

PROPOSED SEALED DOCUMENTS: SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO

MOTION TO SEAL.