Rule 303.Hearings and records

All child support hearings and trials are conducted publicly, unless in the court's discretion there is sufficient reason to close the proceedings. The privacy of the records is governed by Rule 90.1, in the interest of protecting sensitive identifying and confidential information.

The split is deliberate and worth understanding. A support case is mostly about money — income, expenses, the cost of raising a child — and there is no reason the public cannot watch a court decide it. Custody and dependency matters are different, and Rules 111 and 90.1 close them.

But the file is another matter. Support papers carry social security numbers, employer details, bank information and addresses, and Rule 301 requires the numbers to be filed. An open hearing does not turn those into public records.

So: open door, closed file. Anyone may sit in the room; nobody may leaf through the documents.