Baker, J.
K.H. is a transgender woman who seeks to change her name and gender marker. She filed requests to waive publication and seal the record pursuant to Indiana Administrative Rule 9. The trial court directed her to publish notice of the Rule 9 hearing in a newspaper and to notify the Indiana Attorney General. While the trial court did not require her to include her name, it required her to include her cause number, date and time of hearing, and the fact that she desired to change her name from a traditionally male name to a traditionally female one. We find that these directives were erroneous. We also find that the record supports K.H.’s Administrative Rule 9 requests. We therefore reverse and remand with instructions that this case shall remain sealed and for further proceedings
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Here, the trial court couched its notice requirements of K.H. under subsection (b)(i), finding that both the general public and the Attorney General qualify as “such other persons as the Court may direct.” While there is no explicit limit on the trial court’s discretion in naming people to be notified, it is certainly the case that its discretion is not unfettered. It could not, for example, require a name change petitioner to notify a specific person unknown to her and unrelated to the case that she sought the protections of Administrative Rule 9. Could the trial court here have required K.H. to notify the owner of Bub’s Burgers, or the CEO of Conner Prairie, or the mayors of Noblesville, Fishers, and Carmel—for that matter, could it have required her to notify her next-door neighbor? We think not. Given that the trial court may not require notice to specific people unrelated to the case, we have little difficulty taking the small step in logic to conclude that the trial court may not require notice by publication to the general public—in other words, everyone—that a name change petitioner seeks confidentiality.
To the extent that Administrative Rule 9 contemplates public notice, there is one, and only one, way the Rule contemplates that occurring. Rule 9(G)(4)(c)(ii) requires that if the trial court does not initially deny the petitioner’s request to prohibit public access, it shall notify the public by posting advance notice of the hearing pursuant to Indiana Code section 5-14-2-5. That statute, in turn, directs notice to the general public be made by posting “a copy of the hearing notice at a place within the confines of the court accessible to the general public.” I.C. § 5-14-2-5.4 Neither the statute nor Administrative Rule 9 provides for alternate forms of public notice—including notice by publication. Therefore, the trial court exceeded its authority and erred by ordering K.H. to take this action.
As for the requirement that K.H. notify the Attorney General, here, too, we believe that the trial court has overstepped its authority. The legislature has never seen fit to name the Attorney General as a party in interest to name change cases or to Administrative Rule 9 cases. The trial court is not entitled to create a connection where one does not already exist legislatively. Under these circumstances, requiring that K.H. notify the Attorney General is no different from requiring that K.H. notify the mayor of Noblesville, which we have already found is outside the bounds of the trial court’s authority.
Moreover, even if we were to accept solely for argument’s sake that “such other persons as the Court may direct” could include the general public and the Attorney General, we note that the very next subsection provides that the petitioner can either provide proof of notice “or the reason why notice could not or should not be given consistent with the requirements found in Trial Rule 65(B).” Admin. R. 9(G)(4)(b)(ii)… In name change cases, there is no adverse party, meaning that Trial Rule 65(B) is not a perfect fit. But we interpret Administrative Rule 9 to indicate that, in name change cases, a petitioner seeking to waive publication and seal the record need not notify the public, or anyone else, of the proceeding if (1) it clearly appears from specific facts shown by affidavit or by verified pleadings that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to the petitioner if notice of the proceeding is required; and (2) the petitioner or her attorney certifies to the court the reasons why notice should not be required.
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In sum, the trial court overstepped its authority by demanding that K.H. provide notice by publication and notice to the Attorney General of her intent to waive publication and seal the record of her name change case pursuant to Administrative Rule 9. Concomitantly, the trial court erred by denying her Administrative Rule 9 petition based on her failure to comply with its notice directives.
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The judgment of the trial court is reversed and remanded with instructions that this case shall remained sealed and for further proceedings.
Najam, J., and Robb, J., concur.