N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 5.5 — Sealing Case Files and Documents; Redacting Documents

High confidence· verified September 26, 2026Local Rules

Summary

N.D. Fla. Loc. R. 5.5 — Sealing Case Files and Documents; Redacting Documents: the court's own rule, verbatim from LOCAL RULES UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA (Effective November 24, 2015), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies in every case before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida alongside the federal rules and any judge-specific procedures.

Requirement

(A) General Rule. Each case file and each document filed in it is public unless one of these provides otherwise: a statute, court rule, administrative order, or order in the case. The Court may, by an order in the case, modify any sealing or redaction requirement set out in an administrative order or this rule. (B) Documents That May Be Sealed Without an Order. When a statute, court rule, or administrative order requires the sealing of a category of documents, a party may submit a document in that category for filing under seal, without moving for leave to file the document under seal. The Clerk must maintain the document under seal unless the Court orders otherwise. (C) Documents That May Be Sealed Only With an Order. A party who wishes to file any other document under seal must, if feasible, move in advance for leave to file the document under seal. The party may submit the document for filing under seal only if the Court authorizes it. If a party submits a document for filing under seal before the Court authorizes it—either because obtaining advance authorization was not feasible or in violation of this rule—the Clerk must promptly refer the sealing issue to the Court and must maintain the document under seal until otherwise ordered. (D) Filing Redacted Versions of Sealed Documents. When feasible, a party who files a document under seal must file a redacted version that will become part of the public file. Filing a redacted version is feasible unless (1) a person could infer from the redacted version the substance or import of the information that called for sealing the original or (2) the redacted version would include so little information that publicly filing it would serve no purpose. (E) Redacting Documents That Are Improperly Filed with Personal Identifiers. If a party violates Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1 by failing to redact a personal identifier, the party must promptly file a properly redacted substitute. When the substitute is filed, the Clerk must seal the unredacted original.

Source of truth

(A) General Rule. Each case file and each document filed in it is public unless one of these provides otherwise: a statute, court rule, administrative order, or order in the case. The Court may, by an order in the case, modify any sealing or redaction requirement set out in an ad

Official source: N.D. Fla. — Northern District of Florida
Source health: Healthy · checked October 4, 2026
Effective date: November 24, 2015
Last verified: September 26, 2026benchpath-appfed-flrules-2026-09-26

Change history

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July 30, 2026

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