Child Custody Case and Family Court Services
Q: This involves a custody case in which I and my husband are the grandparents. I have raised the child since birth and until recent rulings shared legal custody with our son and the child’s mother. I have read the Q&A on access to CPS records. I would also like to access records from Family Court Services interviews. I would like to have the records for everyone who was interviewed in our case; opposing family members, CPS social workers, etc. Do I have a right to these records and if so how do I request them?
A: I am assuming the Family Court Services interviews of interest to you were conducted in conjunction with the mediation procedures set forth at section 3170 et seq. of the Family Code. Rule of Court 2.550(c) provides that the public has a presumptive right of access to court records. However, the right of access provided by the Rules of Court does not apply to records “made confidential by law.”
Records of such mediation proceedings — which would include the interviews at issue — are made confidential by law under Family Code section 3177. Although there is a separate right of access to court records under the First Amendment, see NBC Subsidiary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court, 20 Cal. 4th 1178 (1999), it is likely that, absent special circumstances, a court would find the interest in maintaining the confidentiality of these records overrides the general First Amendment right of access to court records.
It is possible that by virtue of your status as a participant in these custody of proceedings, a legal argument could be made that you have a right to access records of these interviews. However, the resolution of that issue is beyond the scope of the information we can provide as part of this hotline. If you are currently represented by legal counsel, you might ask him or her about this. Alternatively, if you are interested in locating legal counsel experienced in family law issues, you might want to check with the State Bar of California, where you can find information about attorney referrals:
http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10182