M E M O
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Gerhard Raedeke
RE: Rule 2.2, N.D.R.Ct.; Facsimile Transmission
The Committee has a request for an amendment clarifying N.D.R.Ct. 2.2. Currently, the rule is unclear as to whether the $5 fee required for facsimile filing is per document or transmission.
In the material following is a poll of the clerks of court. The poll indicates the clerks are interpreting Rule 2.2 differently. Following is a summary of the poll.
1. Whether the $5 fee is charged per transmission or document:
- Fifteen clerks indicated they are charging per transmission.
- Nine clerks indicated they are charging per document.
2. How a document is defined:
- A document is defined by whether the paper is separately titled or captioned.
- A paper is considered a document if the paper would receive a document number and be entered as such in the register of actions.
- A document is defined as each pleading such as a summons, brief, or complaint.
- A document is defined by the page numbering.
3. Percent or number of documents being filed by fax:
- One clerk - no documents have been filed by fax
- One clerk - documents have been filed by fax 1 or 2 times
- Two clerks - documents filed by fax once or twice a year
- Six clerks - less than or equal to 1% of filings are by fax
- One clerk - less than 3% of filings are by fax
- Five clerks - up to 5% of filings are by fax
- Three clerks - 5% of documents are filed by fax
- One clerk - 5-10% of documents are filed by fax
- One clerk - 5-10% of documents are filed by fax
One clerk - 3-5 per month are filed by fax
- One clerk - less than 20 documents per year are filed by fax
- Two clerks - 3-4 per week are filed by fax
- One clerk - 4 per week are filed by fax
- One clerk - 2 per day are filed by fax.
4. Length of documents being filed by fax:
- One clerk - 1-2 pages
- One clerk - 2-3 pages
- Five clerks - 1-5 pages
- One clerk - 2-5 pages
- One clerk - 3-5 pages
- One clerk - less than 6 pages
- One clerk - a few pages
- One clerk - 1-10 pages
- One clerk - 4-10 pages
- One clerk - 1-20 pages
- One clerks - 5-30 pages
- One clerk - 1-40 pages
- One clerk - out-of-town law firms have filed hundreds of pages by fax.
5. Where the $5 facsimile filing fee is being deposited:
- Twenty-one clerks indicated the money goes into the county general fund.
6. Method of charging:
- Two clerks indicated the fee should be a per page charge.
- Eleven clerks indicated the charge should be by the document or transmission,
- because per page creates more work and
- other filing fees are not charged by volume.
7. Amount of Fee:
- Ten clerks indicated $5 is satisfactory.
- Four clerks suggested the fee should be $10.
- Four clerks suggested charging an additional per page fee for each page over 10 pages (one clerk suggested if over 15 pages)
- three of those clerks suggested $1 per page
- two suggested 25 cents per page.
8. Comments received:
- Attorneys do not indicate whether it is there intent to file by fax or whether they are just faxing a copy for informational purposes.
- Have to send a letter asking for the fee.
- Rule should say that if you fax file the original does not need to be filed.
- I do not file faxes if the attorney indicates an original is being mailed
- only file faxed documents if requested.
- Office sends a letter regarding fee. Not everyone pays and we do not have time to try and collect.
- Should give thought to e-mail filing.
- Clerks of district court should not be required to accept facsimile filings like the Supreme Court.
- Are returning the originals.
- Do not always receive payment.
- It is unnecessary to send a document late in the afternoon by fax, if the clerk is going to receive the same document the next morning by mail.
- Everyone should do it the same way.
- We encourage attorneys to mail the originals.
- The original should be required to be filed. Fax transmissions are somewhat messy and hard to read.
- Dislike fax filing because the clerk always has to bill the party doing the faxing - payments are very rarely made voluntarily.