(a) Redacted Filings. Unless the court orders otherwise, in an electronic or paper filing with the court that contains a Social Security number, a taxpayer-identification number, or a financial-account number, a party or nonparty making the filing may include only the last four digits of any such Social Security number, taxpayeridentification number, or financial-account number.
Rule 5.1.Privacy Protection for Court Filings.
Last amended August 1, 2012 · Last verified July 6, 2026
In one sentenceRule 5.1 protects sensitive personal and financial identifiers in court filings by requiring parties to redact all but the last four digits of Social Security numbers, taxpayer-identification numbers, and financial-account numbers unless an exception applies.
Full Text of Rule 5.1
(b) Exemptions from the Redaction Requirement. This redaction requirement does not apply to the following:
(1) a financial-account number that identifies the property allegedly subject to forfeiture in a forfeiture proceeding;
(2) information contained in the record of any administrative, agency, or court proceeding, if that record was not subject to the redaction requirement when originally created;
(3) a filing governed by or subject to a statute, rule, regulation, or other provision of law that requires the inclusion of the information that would otherwise be subject to redaction by this rule; and
(4) a filing covered by Rule 5.1(c).
(c) Filings Made Under Seal. The court may order that a filing be made under seal without redaction. The court may later unseal the filing or order the person who made the filing to file a redacted version for the public record.
(d) Party Access. Any party to a civil action is presumptively entitled upon request to a copy of a filing made under seal pursuant to Rule 5.1(c) and to an unredacted copy of any redacted filing made pursuant to this rule. Upon such a request, a person who previously made such a filing shall either promptly provide to the requesting party the requested filing under seal or an unredacted copy or file a timely motion to be excused from providing such documents to the requesting party.
(e) Protective Orders. For good cause shown, the court may order the redaction of additional information from any filing or may order the removal from a filing of any information required to be redacted but not redacted from that filing.
(f) Responsibility for Privacy Protection. The attorney, party, or nonparty filing documents in the clerk’s office or the electronic court record is responsible for making the redactions required by this rule. Neither the clerk nor any other official custodian of court records shall be responsible for reviewing documents filed with the court for compliance with this rule.
(g) Waiver of Protection of Identifiers. Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), a person or entity waives the protection of Rule 5.1(a) as to the person or entity’s own information by filing it without redaction and not under seal.
(dc) District Court Rule. Rule 5.1 applies in the district courts.
Amendment History
[Adopted 3-26-2012, eff. 8-1-2012.]
Committee Comments
Committee Comments to August 1, 2012, Adoption of Rule 5.1
This rule is modeled on Rule 5.2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. A significant change is the omission of the provisions in the federal rule for including only the year of an individual's birth date and only the initials of a minor. Many state-court filings require this information, and the information may affect jurisdictional matters, such as when child-support obligations expire. The risk of unauthorized and unwanted access to minors’ names and people's birthdates via electronic searching of court records does not warrant a routine redaction requirement. In cases where such redaction is needed and appropriate, a party may proceed under Rule 5.1(e).
Rule 5.1(c), like Federal Rule 5.2(d), does not limit or expand the judicially developed rules that govern sealing. As with Federal Rule 5.2(e), nothing in Rule 5.1(e) is intended to affect the limitations on sealing that are otherwise applicable to the court. Rule 5.1(d) is added to make clear that redaction pursuant to Rule 5.1(a) or sealing pursuant to Rule 5.1(c) – i.e., solely for limiting inappropriate Internet access to sensitive information filed electronically or scanned into the court's electronic file – does not affect an opposing party’s right to the information. If there is reason to limit other parties' access to the information, the filing party or person may seek such relief pursuant to Rule 5.1(d).
Rule 5.1(f) is similar to a comment to Federal Rule 5.2. It is included here as part of the rule to emphasize that this procedure does not impose any responsibility on court officers or personnel to review documents for redactions or to redact documents.
Rule 5.1(g) is substantially identical to Federal Rule 5.2(h). Like Federal Rule 5.2(h), Rule 5.1(g) is intended to allow a party or a person the choice of declining to redact their own information, such as when the burden or expense of redaction outweighs the benefits of privacy. As with Federal Rule 5.2(h), if a person files an unredacted identifier by mistake, that person may seek relief from the court. Note from the reporter of decisions: The order adopting Rule 5.1, Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that contains Alabama cases from So. 3d.
Plain-English Summary
Court files are public records, and in many courts they are searchable online. Rule 5.1 limits the damage a public filing can do by requiring anyone submitting a document with a Social Security number, a taxpayer-identification number, or a financial-account number to include only the last four digits, unless the court orders otherwise.
The redaction duty has built-in exceptions. It does not apply to a financial-account number that identifies property targeted in a forfeiture case, to information copied from an administrative or agency record that was never subject to redaction in the first place, or to a filing that some other law specifically requires to include the full number. A court can also order an entire document filed under seal instead of redacted, and can later unseal it or require a redacted version to replace it.
Redaction protects the public from casual exposure to sensitive numbers, but it does not hide anything from the parties themselves. Any party to the case can ask for, and is presumptively entitled to, an unredacted copy of a redacted filing or a copy of a sealed one. A court can also go further and order additional information redacted for good cause, or order that something which should have been redacted but was not be pulled from a filing.
Responsibility for redacting rests with whoever files the document — the clerk is not required to check filings for compliance. A person can also choose to waive the protection for their own information by filing it unredacted and not under seal, though that choice does not affect anyone else's information in the same filing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What information does Rule 5.1 require parties to redact?
Social Security numbers, taxpayer-identification numbers, and financial-account numbers — a filer may include only the last four digits of each unless the court orders otherwise.
Does Rule 5.1 require redacting a minor’s name or a birth date?
No. Unlike some other redaction rules, this rule does not require routine redaction of minors’ names or birth dates, because that information often matters to the case itself, such as when a child-support obligation ends. A party who needs that kind of information protected in a specific case can ask the court for a protective order.
Can the other side still see the unredacted numbers?
Yes. A party to the case is presumptively entitled to an unredacted copy of a redacted filing or a copy of a filing made under seal, on request.
Is the court clerk responsible for checking that filings are properly redacted?
No. The person or attorney making the filing is responsible for redacting it; the clerk is not required to review filings for compliance with this rule.
What happens if someone files a document without redacting it?
The person who filed it without redaction and without sealing it waives the rule’s protection as to that person’s own information. A court can also order removal or further redaction of information from a filing for good cause.
Source & verification. The rule text, amendment history, and Committee Comments are reproduced verbatim from the
official Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure (Ala. R. Civ. P. 5.1). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Alabama (Ala. Const. amend. 328, § 6.11). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 6, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: privacy protectionredaction ruleredacted filingssealed filingsAla. R. Civ. P. 5.1