LINCOLN — A Logan County judge opened several documents in the Gee family murder case Tuesday but sided with prosecutors in keeping a search warrant under wraps for 180 days.

Judge Thomas Harris heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by The Pantagraph, the Decatur Herald & Review and Springfield’s State Journal-Register asking that documents in the criminal cases related to the deaths of the Rick Gee family be opened. The couple and three of their children were found dead Sept. 21 in their Beason home, and a 3-year-old daughter was found badly injured.

The judge said he did not intend for the Logan County circuit clerk to seal his Oct. 23 order that kept a search warrant closed from the public. The search warrant is part of the criminal cases against Christopher J. Harris and his brother, Jason L. Harris, who both face murder, armed robbery and attempted criminal sexual assault charges related to the deaths.

That document, called a “motion to seal court file,” was released Tuesday by the judge. It states that police asked to search all vehicles on the Gee family property on 2150th Avenue, including two vans, a motor home, a car and a pickup truck.

Harris granted a request by Assistant State’s Attorney Jon Wright to redact references to license plates in the released documents — even though the vans and a motor home remain in the driveway of the property and the plates remain clearly visible on the vans.

Media lawyer Don Craven said police arguments that releasing the warrant information could jeopardize an ongoing investigation make little sense two months after two men have been charged with murder and two women were accused of obstructing justice in the case.

The court documents should be open “unless and until the state by motion and order of this court articulates a basis to overcome the constitutional presumption of openness,” said Craven.

Among his reasons for asking that records be sealed, Logan County Detective Sean Kindred said police had not interviewed the 3-year-old survivor.

In issuing his decision, Harris agreed that the search warrant documents are public records but concurred with Wright’s arguments that a “compelling, societal interest” exists in keeping the records closed until Jan. 23. That is 180 days after the order was issued.

Pantagraph Editor Mark Pickering said after the hearing: “We’re encouraged to see some movement toward our position. We will be consulting with Don Craven about an appeal of the judge’s ruling.”

The Gee case search warrant is one of many search warrants kept from the public in Logan County. A clerk told a reporter recently that the closure of search warrants may go back nine years in the county.

Wright said after the hearing that the state’s attorney’s office is in the process of going through dozens of records to see if they should be opened.

“It’s been brought to our attention and we’re reviewing it,” Wright said.