AMENDING PROBATE RULE 20, 1755 (Alaska 3-3-2011)
Order No. 1755.Supreme Court of Alaska.Effective Date: nunc pro tunc to December 14, 2010.
Dated: March 3, 2011.
IT IS ORDERED:
1. Probate Rule 20 is amended to read as follows:
Rule 20. Judicial Bypass Procedure to Authorize Minor to Consent to an Abortion.
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(g) Confidentiality.
(1) Prior to the issuance of an order on the petition, the court file is confidential and access is limited to the petitioner, the petitioner’s attorney, and court personnel for case processing purposes only. Judicial bypass hearings are closed to the public and recordings of those hearings are sealed. All documents and records in the case file are sealed upon the issuance of an order on the petition. Petitions filed under AS 18.16.030 and all hearing, proceedings, and records are confidential. Court personnel are prohibited from notifying a minor’s parents, guardian, or custodian that a minor is pregnant or wants to have an abortion, andor from disclosing this information to any personmember of the public. The judicial bypass proceeding index is confidential, as provided in Probate Rule 3(g), and a court shall not release the name of, or any other identifying information concerning, a minor who files a judicial bypass petition.Page 2
(2) All statistical and general information that the court system may have concerning judicial bypass proceedings is confidential, except the number of petitions filed, granted, and denied statewide each year is public information.
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2. Appellate Rule 220 is amended to read as follows:
Rule 220. Judicial Bypass Appeals.
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(i) Confidentiality.
(1) Documents, and proceedings, oral arguments, and audio or video recordings in an appeal under this rule are sealedconfidential. Court personnel are prohibited from notifying the minor’s parents, guardian, or custodian that the minor is pregnant or wants to have an abortion, and or from disclosing this information to any person member of the public. The court shall not release the name of, or any other identifying information concerning, a minor who files a judicial bypass appeal.
(2) All statistical and general information that the court system may have concerning judicial bypass appeals is confidential, except the number of appeals filed, granted, and denied statewide each year is public information.
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/s/________________
Chief Justice Carpeneti
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Justice Fabe
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Justice Winfree
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Justice Christen
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Justice StowersPage 1