CIVIL CASES

(A) Date of Accessibility. (1) Unless prohibited by law or by court order, a court record in a civil case is remotely accessible by the public. (2) When an ex parte motion is filed contemporaneously with a complaint, no court records will be accessible until after the court has reviewed and acted on the motion. After the court has acted on the motion, unless the court orders otherwise, all court records in the case that would otherwise be accessible will be accessible by the public. (3) When an ex parte motion is filed after the filing of the complaint, the motions and any attachments will not be accessible until after the court has reviewed and acted on the motion. After the court has acted on the motion, the court records related to the ex parte motion will be accessible as follows: (a) If the motion is granted, the court records related to the motion will be accessible as provided by the order granting the motion. (b) If the motion is denied, unless otherwise prohibited by any law or court order, the court records related to the motion will be accessible by the public, by any other party to the case, or by attorneys of record, when the court denies the motion. (B) Nonpublic Cases. No court records are accessible by the public in the following proceedings: 14 (1) Mental health civil commitment proceedings; (2) Medical malpractice screening panel proceedings; (3) Sterilization proceedings; (4) HIV/AIDS testing proceedings; (5) Minor settlement proceedings; (6) Petitions for special findings and rulings of law for certain at-risk noncitizen children filed pursuant to 22 M.R.S. § 4099-I(2); and (7) Any other proceeding that is nonpublic by law. (C) Public Cases. Court records in civil cases not listed in subdivision (B) of this rule are accessible by the public both remotely and at a courthouse except as otherwise provided by law, subdivision (D) of this rule, or court order. (D) Limitations on Access to Court Records in Public Cases. (1) Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED), Small Claims, and Foreclosure Cases Accessible by the Public only at a Courthouse. Before the entry of a judgment, or at any time before or after judgment if the parties agree, court records in forcible entry and detainer (FED), small claims, and foreclosure cases are accessible by the public only at a courthouse. In FED, small claims, and foreclosure cases: (a) The registry of actions is accessible by the public remotely for three years only after a judgment has been entered against a defendant; and (b) Other court records may be accessible by the public remotely when remote access is approved by the court. (2) Extreme Risk Protection Matters. Documents in extreme risk protection matters—also known as weapons restriction matters— are accessible by the public only at the courthouse to the extent permitted by statute. 15 (3) Nonpublic Information. (a) Social Security Numbers. When filing a document with the court that contains an individual’s Social Security number, the filer may include only the last four digits of the Social Security number. If the Social Security number must be provided to the court, the filer must provide it on the Social Security Number Confidential Disclosure Form (CR-CV-FM-PC-200) that is filed as nonpublic. (b) Financial Account Numbers. Court records must not contain a complete financial account number; only the last four digits of the financial account number may be included. If the complete financial account number must be included in a court record, it must be done in compliance with Rule 38(B)(1). (c) Information that is Nonpublic by Law. When filing a public document that contains information that is nonpublic by law, the filer must omit or redact the nonpublic information. (d) Protective Orders. For good cause, the court may by order in a case require redaction or omission of additional information or limit or prohibit a nonparty’s remote electronic access to a document filed with the court. (4) Nonpublic Documents. The following documents are nonpublic, except as provided by law: (a) Disability accommodation requests; (b) Images of minors and persons of any age subject to guardianship, conservatorship, or mental health commitment proceedings; (c) Images depicting nudity or of a sexual nature, including sexual acts, sexual contact, or sexual touching; (d) authorizations; Immigration and visa documents and any related work 16 (e) Court for court-appointed counsel and fee waivers, including indigency affidavits and any attachments; applications relating records to (f) Personal financial documents, including financial including W-2s, paystubs, bank statements, tax documents statements, account statements, and payment histories; (g) Personal health and medical records, including HIV/AIDS testing information and results, all mental health evaluations and records, forensic evaluations, all reports and notices regarding persons in the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, substance use evaluations and treatment records, psychological records, and intelligence test documents and results; (h) School and education records; (i) Birth certificates and death certificates; (j) Requests for appointment of a guardian ad litem, orders appointing guardians ad litem, guardian ad litem reports, and guardian ad litem vouchers; (k) Reports of sexual assault forensic examination kits; (l) Social Security Number Confidential Disclosure Form; (m) Files, reports, records, communications, and working papers used or developed in providing child advocacy center services pursuant to 22 M.R.S. § 4019(9); (n) Recordings of child advocacy center forensic interviews pursuant to 22 M.R.S. § 4019(9-A); (o) Civil summary sheet; (p) Party contact information form; and 17 (q) Any other information or court record to which public access is prohibited by law. Advisory Note – January 2026 Rule 4(B) is amended to add as nonpublic cases: petitions for special findings and rulings of law for certain at-risk noncitizen children filed pursuant to 22 M.R.S. § 4099-I(2). Rule 4(B) is also amended to remove extreme weapon protection orders as a nonpublic case type. Access to those records is now governed by Rule 4(D)(2), which states documents in these matters are accessible by the public at the courthouse to the extent permitted by statute. The amendment also clarifies that other proceedings may be nonpublic by law. Rule 4(D)(1) is amended pursuant to 4 M.R.S. § 9-C to clarify that in FED and small claims cases, and in foreclosure cases, all court records are available only at a courthouse before judgment and after judgment upon agreement of the parties. Absent party agreement to the contrary, after judgment for the plaintiff in FED, small claims, and foreclosure cases, the registry of actions and other court records approved by the court for remote access will be accessible by the public remotely for three years. Rule 4(D)(1) is also amended to remove the references to foreclosure cases as they are not covered by 4 M.R.S. § 9-C. Rule 4(D)(3) lists the information that is nonpublic in civil cases. Rule 4(D)(4) lists the documents that are nonpublic in civil cases. Rule 4(D)(4)(g) includes all reports and notices regarding persons in the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human Services. Advisory Note – March 2021 Rule 4(A)(1) is amended to omit the language providing that “[n]o court record will be accessible by the public until three business days after the court clerk has accepted the submissions of both the case initiating documents and proof of service of process of those documents on at least one defendant,” with “[t]he date of acceptance [to] be determined by application of these rules.” The rule now provides that a court record in a civil case is accessible to the public upon entry into the electronic case file unless prohibited by law or by court order. 18 Rules 4(A)(2) and (3) are amended to omit language providing for public access to court records related to ex parte motions three days after acceptance by the court clerk of proof of service of the motion, case initiating documents, and any applicable writ or court order issued as a result of the motion.