S.D. Tex. BLR 9037-1 — Sealed Documents

High confidence· verified September 26, 2026Local Rules

Summary

S.D. Tex. BLR 9037-1 — Sealed Documents: the court's own rule, verbatim from Bankruptcy Local Rules (Effective March 3, 2026), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies in every case before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas alongside the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and any judge-specific procedures.

Requirement

(a) The sealing of documents is discouraged. (b) Certain documents are routinely redacted to remove personal identifying information or other content that is not relevant to a decision by the Court. In those instances, (i) the document may be filed in redacted form only; (ii) no document should be filed that contains the redacted information; and (iii) the balance of this Rule 5003-1 does not apply. (c) A motion, reply, or other document may initially be filed under seal if the filing party simultaneously files a motion requesting that the document be maintained under seal. The document must be filed using the correct CM/ECF code for the filing of a sealed document. The filing party should notify the Case Manager if a motion to seal is filed. (d) In some instances, it may be practicable to redact relevant confidential information from a document, and to file the redacted document in the public record. In those instances, (i) a redacted document should be filed, not under seal; and (ii) the unredacted document should simultaneously be filed, under seal. (e) A document filed under seal will be kept by the clerk in electronic form but will be viewable only by the bankruptcy judges and staff. (f) Documents filed under seal must be served by the filing party by e-mail and conventional means on parties-in-interest entitled to receive the sealed document. (g) A motion to seal the document must be filed in the public record and served as any other motion. The motion to seal must state whether a redacted version of the document has been filed. (h) Instructions for filing documents under seal are on the Court’s web site. (i) After reviewing the motion to seal, the Court may order appropriate relief, including the unsealing of the document.

Source of truth

(a) The sealing of documents is discouraged. (b) Certain documents are routinely redacted to remove personal identifying information or other content that is not relevant to a decision by the Court. In those instances, (i) the document may be filed in redacted form only; (ii) no

Official source: Bankr. S.D. Tex. — Local Rules (U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 4, 2026
Effective date: March 3, 2026
Last verified: September 26, 2026benchpath-appfed-rules-2026-09-25

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