Rule 5.212 - Trial and hearings may be private(a) Except as otherwise provided by another rule or statute, the court shall, upon demand of either party, direct that the hearing or trial be private.(b) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (c) or (d), upon such demand of either party, all persons must be excluded from the court or chambers wherein the action is tried, except: (1) The officers of the court;(3) The counsel for the parties and their staff;(4) The witnesses (including experts);(5) The parents or guardians of the parties; and(6) The siblings of the parties.(c) The court may, upon oral or written motion of either party or on its own motion, exclude the parents, guardians, or siblings of either party, or witnesses for either party, from the court or chambers wherein the hearing or trial is conducted.(d) If the court determines that the interests of justice or the best interest of a child would be served, the court may permit a person to remain, observe, and hear relevant portions of proceedings notwithstanding the demand of a party that the proceeding be private.(e) The court shall retain supervisory power over its own records and files, including the electronic and video records of proceedings, and possesses inherent authority to deny public access when justified. Unless otherwise ordered or required by rule or statute regarding the public's right of access to court records, the record of a private hearing, or record of a hearing in a sealed case, shall be treated as confidential and not open to public inspection. Parties, their attorneys, and such staff and experts as those attorneys deem necessary are permitted to retain, view, and copy the record of a private hearing for their own use in the representation. Except as otherwise provided by rule, statute, or court order, no party or agent shall distribute, copy, or facilitate the distribution or copying of the record of a private hearing or hearing in a sealed case (including electronic and video records of such a hearing). Any person or entity that distributes or copies the record of a private hearing shall cease doing so and remove it from public access upon being put on notice that it is the record of a private hearing.Added effective 6/10/2022.