The Supreme Court has not addressed the issue, though lower courts have distinguished between settlement agreements that are “filed with, interpreted or enforced by the district court” and those that are not. Pansy v. Borough of Stroudsburg, 23 F.3d 772, 781 (3rd Cir. 1994). In that case, the settlement agreement “was never filed with, interpreted or enforced by the district court. The district court has not ordered any of the terms of the Settlement Agreement to be complied with. Accordingly … the Settlement Agreement is not a judicial record, and the right of access doctrine cannot be a basis for the Newspapers to obtain access to the Agreement.” Id. The court contrasted another case where “we found that the settlement agreement was a judicial record because it had been filed with and enforced by the district court.” Id. (citing Bank of Am. Nat’l Trust and Sav. Ass’n v. Hotel Rittenhouse Assocs., 800 F.2d 339 (3rd Cir. 1986)).
G. Settlement records
Overview
Idaho
Settlement agreements involving public entities are public record. Cowles Publ'g Co. v. Kootenai County Bd. of County Comm'rs, 144 Idaho 259, 265 (2007).However, “records of any risk retention or self-insurance program prepared in anticipation of litigation or for analysis of or settlement of potential or actual money damage claims against a public entity and its employees or against the industrial special indemnity fund” are not subject to disclosure. Idaho Code § 9-340D (2010). “These records shall include, but are not limited to, claims evaluations, investigatory records, computerized reports of losses, case reserves, internal documents and correspondence relating thereto. At the time any claim is concluded, only statistical data and actual amounts paid in settlement shall be deemed a public record unless otherwise ordered to be sealed by a court of competent jurisdiction.” Id.
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