§ 257.70 — Hearings and Records; Confidentiality
Plain-Language Summary
This section requires that paternity hearings and trials be held in closed court, and that case records be sealed from public view except by court order, protecting the privacy of all parties.
257.70 HEARINGS AND RECORDS; CONFIDENTIALITY.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law concerning public hearings and records, any hearing or trial held under sections 257.51 to 257.74 shall be held in closed court without admittance of any person other than those necessary to the action or proceeding. All papers and records, other than the final judgment, pertaining to the action or proceeding, whether part of the permanent record of the court or of a file in the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families or elsewhere, are subject to inspection only upon consent of the court and all interested persons, or in exceptional cases only upon an order of the court for good cause shown.
(b) In all actions under this chapter in which public assistance is assigned under section 518A.81 or the public authority provides services to a party or parties to the action, the public authority shall not release private data on the location of a party to the action or the joint child if:
(1) the public authority has knowledge that one party is currently subject to a protective order with respect to the other party or the joint child, and the protected party or guardian of the joint child has not authorized disclosure; or
(2) the public authority has reason to believe that the release of the information may result in physical or emotional harm to a party or the joint child.
History:
1980 c 589 s 20; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1997 c 203 art 6 s 25; 1Sp2020 c 2 art 5 s 65; 2024 c 80 art 8 s 68,70
History: History: 1980 c 589 s 20; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1997 c 203 art 6 s 25; 1Sp2020 c 2 art 5 s 65; 2024 c 80 art 8 s 68,70