PA Certificate of Compliance: When to File and Confidential Info

The Pennsylvania Certificate of Compliance is a signed statement that must accompany every document filed in a Pennsylvania court, confirming the filing follows the Case Records Public Access Policy rules on confidential information and confidential documents. Attorneys and self-represented parties sign it to verify that items like Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and medical or financial source documents have been kept off the public filing and placed on the proper confidential forms instead. The requirement applies at every level of the Unified Judicial System, from magisterial district courts through the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.¹

What the Certificate Actually Says

The language is fixed. The certification reads: “I certify that this filing complies with the provisions of the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania that require filing confidential information and documents differently than non-confidential information and documents.”²

That one sentence covers two distinct things. Confidential information means specific data points, like an account number buried inside a motion. Confidential documents means entire records, like a tax return or a medical file, that cannot sit on the public docket at all. Your signature attests that you handled both correctly.

When You Have to File One

Under 231 Pa. Code Rule 1.99, every legal paper filed by an attorney or unrepresented party in any Pennsylvania court requires the certification, together with any Confidential Information Form or Confidential Document Form the filing calls for.¹ That means magisterial district courts, Courts of Common Pleas, and the Superior, Commonwealth, and Supreme Courts.

The certificate is attached even when the filing contains nothing sensitive. The policy commentary is explicit: it accompanies every document, not only those that happen to include protected material.³ The one exception is a filing whose public access is already restricted by a separate authority, such as a sealing order or a statute that independently makes the record confidential.

Information That Cannot Appear in a Public Filing

Section 7.0 of the Public Access Policy lists six categories of information that stay off any publicly filed document. If the court needs the data, it goes on a Confidential Information Form filed alongside the main document rather than inside it.³

Social Security numbers, in full or in part.
Financial account numbers. The last four digits may appear only when the account itself is the subject of the case and no other identifier works.
Driver license numbers.
State identification (SID) numbers.
Minors’ names and dates of birth, unless the minor is charged as a defendant in a criminal matter.
An abuse victim’s contact information in family court actions, meaning address, employer name, work schedule, and similar details. The victim’s name itself is not protected under this provision.

The point is not to redact and leave blanks in your filing. The information moves off the public document and onto the Confidential Information Form, which is kept separate from the public record.⁴

Documents That Require a Confidential Cover Sheet

Section 8.0 covers entire documents that are confidential by their nature. These are not filed on the public docket. They are submitted under a Confidential Document Form that acts as a cover sheet; the cover sheet is public, the attached document is not. The form and any additional pages must also be served on all unrepresented parties and counsel of record.⁵

The protected categories are:

Financial source documents: tax returns, W-2s, 1099s, wage stubs, credit card statements, bank statements, check registers, checks, and loan applications.
Minors’ educational records.
Medical and psychological records, including anything relating to past, present, or future physical or mental health.
Children and Youth Services records.
Marital property inventory and pre-trial statements filed under Pa.R.C.P. No. 1920.33.
Income and expense statements filed under Pa.R.C.P. No. 1910.27(c).
Agreements between parties under 23 Pa.C.S. § 3105.

Family cases hit these rules constantly. In a divorce or support matter, nearly every financial exhibit falls under Section 8.0, and omitting the Confidential Document Form on something like a tax return or pay stub is one of the common failures.

How to Complete the Certificate

You have two ways to satisfy the rule. Use the standalone Certificate of Compliance form from the Pennsylvania courts website, or insert the certification language directly into the document you are filing.³ Many attorneys embed the certification at the end of their briefs or motions to avoid handling a separate form.

The standalone form asks for:

The case caption, with party names exactly as they appear on the docket.
The docket number assigned by the court.
The court and county where the case is pending.
The signature of the attorney or unrepresented party, with printed name, address, phone number, and email.

The form sits alongside the Confidential Information Form and Confidential Document Form on the Unified Judicial System’s public records forms page.⁶ If you are filing several documents together, list each one on a single certificate or attach a separate certificate for each.

How to File It

For the appellate courts and participating Courts of Common Pleas, filing goes through PACFile, the state’s electronic filing system. PACFile accepts filings for the Supreme, Superior, and Commonwealth Courts, along with Common Pleas courts that have joined the system.⁷ You upload the Certificate of Compliance as part of the filing package, and the system transmits everything to the court once you complete payment.

In courts that have not adopted electronic filing, you deliver the certificate in person or by mail to the Prothonotary or Clerk of Courts. For in-person filing, bring an extra copy and a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a file-stamped copy returned to you.⁸

One detail trips people up. An electronic filing under Rule 205.4 is itself a certification that a properly signed hard copy exists. You must keep that signed hard copy for at least two years after the case concludes or the issue raised by the filing is resolved, whichever is later. An opposing party can demand to see it within fourteen days of serving a notice, and the court can sanction you for failing to produce it.⁹

What Happens If You Don’t Comply

Consequences turn on which rule was broken and which court is handling it. Courts of record have more authority than magisterial district courts.

When a filing exposes information that belonged on a Confidential Information Form, a court of record can order the document sealed, redacted, amended, or any combination of those, and can impose sanctions including the costs of preparing a compliant replacement.³ A magisterial district court facing the same problem can order redaction or amendment but does not have the same explicit sanctions authority.

When a confidential document is filed without the required cover sheet, a court of record can order the document sealed and impose appropriate sanctions. A magisterial district court can order sealing but lacks the broader sanctions power.³ The court can act on its own motion or on a motion from the opposing party.

1
Pennsylvania Code. 231 Pa. Code Rule 1.99 – Confidential Information and Confidential Documents. Certification
2
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Certificate of Compliance
3
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
4
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Confidential Information Form
5
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Confidential Document Form
6
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Public Records Forms
7
The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. PACFile
8
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
9
Pennsylvania Code. 231 Pa. Code Rule 205.4 – Electronic Filing and Service of Legal Papers