Rule 21.130.Protected Information
Current through August 1, 2026 · Last verified September 12, 2026
Full Text of Rule 21.130
Plain-English Summary
The rule runs a single sentence and reaches broadly. Whatever a person does with information taken from a document filed electronically, or reached through the electronic filing system, has to square with state and federal law. The rule does not list the laws it means. It incorporates them.
Note what the rule governs: use, not access. Reaching a document through the system licenses nothing about what follows. Restrictions that would apply to the same information sitting in a paper file follow it into electronic form, and the ease of downloading, forwarding, and republishing does not loosen them.
This pairs with the designation rules elsewhere in the chapter. UTCR 21.070 controls which documents are marked confidential and which are segregated from the rest of a case file, which shapes who can see a document in the first place. This rule governs what a person does with what they have seen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does UTCR 21.130 set a penalty for misusing information?
No. The rule states the requirement and stops there. It sets no sanction, names no procedure, and leaves the consequences of misuse to the state and federal law it points to.
A party who believes information from a filing was misused looks to that law, not to this rule, for a remedy.
Does the rule list what counts as protected information?
No. It names no categories and sets no standard of its own. It points to state and federal law, which supply the restrictions that apply to the information in question.
Can I republish something I downloaded from the eFiling system?
Only if that use is consistent with state and federal law. The rule grants no permission by itself, and access through the system is not a license to do anything in particular with what you find.
Does this rule apply only to attorneys?
The rule speaks to the use of the information without naming a class of person. It reaches use of what is in an electronically filed document and use of what is accessed through the system.
How do I keep sensitive material from becoming public in the first place?
Handling at the filing stage is governed elsewhere. UTCR 21.070 sets out when a document is designated confidential, when a document must be segregated from the rest of the case file, and which documents — including anything filed under seal or subject to in camera inspection — must be filed conventionally.