Sample Motion to Seal Court Records in California: Findings and Filing

To file a motion to seal court records in California, you file a noticed motion under California Rules of Court 2.550 and 2.551, supported by a fact-specific declaration and a proposed order that walks the judge through the five factual findings the court is required to make before sealing anything. The paperwork has to come in two versions of every document, the confidential one gets lodged rather than filed, and the substance of the declaration is where most motions live or die.

When the Sealing Rules Apply

Rules 2.550 and 2.551 apply in both civil and criminal cases whenever a party asks the court to seal a record that would otherwise be publicly accessible. They do not apply to records that are already confidential by operation of law. Family conciliation records, in forma pauperis applications, and search warrant affidavits sealed under People v. Hobbs have their own confidentiality provisions and don’t need a sealing motion.¹

The rules also don’t reach discovery materials that are never submitted to the court as a basis for adjudication. If a document was exchanged in discovery but never filed or used in a motion, the correct tool is a discovery protective order, not a sealing motion.

The Five Findings the Court Must Make

California courts presume records are open to the public. To overcome that presumption, the judge has to make all five of these express factual findings on the record:¹

An overriding interest exists that overcomes the public’s right of access.
That interest specifically supports sealing the particular record at issue.
A substantial probability exists that the interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed.
The proposed sealing is narrowly tailored.
No less restrictive means would adequately protect the interest.

The court cannot skip any of them. Party agreement is not enough. Even when both sides want the record sealed, the judge has to make each finding independently and state the supporting facts on the record. Your job as the moving party is to hand the court the facts it needs for every one of the five.

What Actually Counts as an Overriding Interest

The rules deliberately leave “overriding interest” undefined, letting case law fill in the concept. Statutory privileges, trade secrets, and privacy interests can qualify when properly asserted and not waived.¹ A trade secret claim needs to show a specific, concrete competitive injury from disclosure. Medical records involving sensitive diagnoses or mental health treatment can qualify where disclosure would invade a significant privacy interest.

What doesn’t work: vague claims of business embarrassment, general assertions that a document is “confidential,” or boilerplate lifted from a discovery protective order. The court needs particular facts about particular harm to a particular interest. That is where most motions fail. A declaration that says only “disclosure would be harmful to my client’s business interests” gives the judge a reason to deny.

Narrow Tailoring

The sealing order must reach only the specific documents, pages, or portions of pages containing the material that needs protection.¹ Asking to seal a 40-page brief because two paragraphs discuss a trade secret formula will get the motion denied or heavily rewritten. Redact the specific sentences or figures and leave the rest public. Courts appreciate that, and it signals you know the standard.

What Goes in the Motion Papers

The motion includes a memorandum of points and authorities, a supporting declaration with admissible evidence, and a proposed order.

The declaration is the backbone. Conclusory statements accomplish nothing. The declarant has to explain, with specifics, why disclosure of each piece of information would cause real harm. For a trade secret, that means describing the development investment, the competitive context, how few people have access, and the steps taken to keep the information confidential. For medical privacy, it means describing the sensitivity of the diagnosis and the consequences of exposure. Each of the five findings needs its own factual support in the declaration.

The memorandum walks through each finding and ties the declaration’s facts to it. The proposed order should mirror the five findings and leave space for the court to state the specific facts supporting each. Judges routinely modify proposed orders, but starting with the right framework makes the court’s work easier.

Two Versions of Every Document

Rule 2.551 requires two versions of any document containing material to be sealed.² The first is a public redacted version, its cover labeled “Public—Redacts materials from conditionally sealed record.” The second is the complete unredacted version, its cover labeled “May Not Be Examined Without Court Order—Contains material from conditionally sealed record.”

The redacted version gets filed publicly. The unredacted version gets lodged conditionally under seal. Lodging means the clerk receives and holds the document without filing it as a public record. A filed document is part of the public record; a lodged document sits accessible only to the judge until the court rules.

Lodging and Cover Sheet Mechanics

The unredacted materials must reach the court in a way that preserves confidentiality. Whether paper or electronic, they must be clearly identified as “CONDITIONALLY UNDER SEAL.”² For paper filings, the envelope or container itself carries that label. The lodged material also needs an attached cover sheet containing everything required for a standard caption page under Rule 2.111, plus a statement that the record is subject to a pending motion to seal.

When the clerk receives the lodged record, the clerk endorses the cover sheet with the date of receipt and retains the record without filing it unless the court later orders otherwise. For electronic lodging, check the county’s e-filing procedures. Most California superior courts accept it, but the specific steps vary by court and platform. Uploading to the wrong queue can put confidential material into the public file by accident.

Serving the Motion

The motion and supporting papers must be served on every party that has appeared in the case. Service runs on two tracks. Parties who already received the unredacted material through discovery or other proceedings get the complete version of the motion and its exhibits. Parties who have not seen the confidential material get only the public redacted version. Mixing the two defeats the point of the motion.

Redacting Personal Identifiers

Separate from the sealing process, Rule 1.201 requires redaction of certain personal identifiers from any document filed in the public court file. Social security numbers may include only the last four digits, and financial account numbers may include only the last four digits.³ This applies automatically to every public filing, whether or not anyone requests confidentiality.

Rule 1.201 does not apply to documents filed entirely under seal by court order or by operation of law. If the court grants sealing and the document goes into the sealed file in full, the identifier-redaction requirement doesn’t run against that version. Practically: always redact identifiers from the public version, and include full identifiers only in the unredacted version lodged under seal.

Filing Fee

A motion to seal is a noticed motion requiring a hearing. The statewide filing fee for a noticed motion in California superior court is $60 as of January 1, 2026.⁴ The fee does not apply if the motion is the party’s first paper in the case and the first-appearance fee is paid at the same time.

What Happens After You File

The court reviews the motion, declaration, and lodged documents independently. The judge cannot rubber-stamp the parties’ agreement, and may set a hearing to ask questions or hear argument, particularly when the overriding interest is not obvious from the papers.

If the court grants the motion, the signed order must state the facts supporting each finding and direct sealing of only the documents, pages, or portions containing the protected material.¹ Judges often tighten proposed orders. The signed order directs the clerk to seal the unredacted documents, removes them from public access, and identifies who may inspect them.

If the Court Denies the Motion

A denial starts a tight clock. The party that lodged the documents has 10 days from the denial order to tell the court whether the lodged record should be filed unsealed.² If the party gives that notification, the clerk unseals and files the record as part of the public case file.

Silence within those 10 days has different consequences depending on how the document was lodged. Paper documents are returned to the filing party. Electronic documents are permanently deleted by the clerk. That second outcome catches filers off guard. Miss the window on an important exhibit lodged electronically, and the court’s copy is gone. There is no extension unless the court orders one.

Unsealing Later

Sealing orders are not permanent by default. Any party or any member of the public may move to unseal, and the court can initiate unsealing on its own.² A motion to unseal must be served on all parties. The court uses the same five-factor standard it applied when sealing, asking whether the overriding interest still justifies keeping the records from public view.

If the court moves to unseal on its own, it must first give notice to the parties and state the reason. Parties then have 10 days to file an opposition, and any responding party gets an additional 5 days. The unsealing order must specify whether the record is unsealed entirely or in part and identify which records or persons are affected. The seal is only as durable as the underlying justification.

On Appeal

Sealing records on appeal follows a parallel set of procedures under Rule 8.46.⁵ The substantive standard is the same, and the appellate court must make the same five findings. The procedural differences involve how lodged materials are transmitted, which must be done separately from the rest of the clerk’s or reporter’s transcript and clearly labeled “CONDITIONALLY UNDER SEAL.” A denial on appeal triggers the same 10-day notification rule and the same consequences for inaction.

1
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 2.550 – Sealed Records
2
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 2.551 – Procedures for Filing Records Under Seal
3
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 1.201 – Protection of Privacy
4
Judicial Branch of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective 01/01/2026
5
Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court 8.46 – Sealed Records