Subject to approval by the Tennessee General Assembly, the Tennessee Supreme Court has adopted a comprehensive new redaction rule that is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2026. A copy of the new rule is accessible here. The crux of the rule is that, “[u]nless the Court orders otherwise, all Confidential Information [as defined in the rule] must be omitted or redacted from a Filing before the Filing is filed or submitted in an Appellate Court.” The new rule provides that “[a] person or entity making a redacted Filing must also file an unredacted version of the Filing under seal.” Further, “[t]he person or entity responsible for omitting and redacting Confidential Information must certify in writing that the Filing complies with this Rule.”
The Tennessee Supreme Court’s new redaction rule establishes a needed framework for dealing with confidential information in Tennessee appellate filings. Until now, while the Tennessee Court of Appeals had an internal rule for addressing such information, the Tennessee Supreme Court did not, and confidential filings were subject to uncertain and ad hoc treatment. Helpfully, the rule also reaffirms an important general commitment to openness that many courts have overlooked: “[T]he public has a statutory right to inspect public records maintained by the courts of this State unless the record is expressly excepted from inspection” and “[b]riefs and other papers filed in or submitted to the Tennessee Appellate Courts are public records maintained by the Courts[,]” the rule explains.
Not all observers supported the rule. “Proposed Rule 20B, as it is currently drafted, will result in adverse consequences to litigants, attorneys, and the courts” in the form of increased costs and potential liability exposure, the Tennessee Bar Association warned. Further, “solo practitioners and small-firm attorneys may reason that if appeals are going to result in a great amount of unpaid labor due to the need to redact filings, then such appeals may not be worth doing.”
The Tennessee Supreme Court did not credit the TBA’s concerns and has proceeded with implementing the new rule. Thus, once it becomes effective, all appellate filers will need to take care to comply with the rule’s requirements.
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