RULE 12. DOCKETING THE APPEAL
Effective Date: 3/1/2003
Obsolete Date: 3/15/2010
(a) Time for Docketing Appeal and Payment of Docket Fee.Upon receipt of the notice of appeal, the supreme court clerk must docket the appeal. The appellant must deposit the docket fee with the clerk of district court at the time the notice of appeal is filed. A check or money order in the amount of the docket fee should be made payable to the supreme court clerk. If two or more parties file separate notices of appeal, the first to file must pay the docket fee. A docket fee is not required in the following cases:
(1) criminal cases;
(2) post-conviction relief;
(3) writs of habeas corpus filed by indigent defendants;
(4) mental health commitments where the appellant is indigent;
(5) juvenile cases where counsel is court-appointed;
(6) other civil cases where an indigent party is entitled to court-appointed counsel as a result of the indigency;
(7) in any other case where an appellant has been declared indigent by order of any state court for the purpose of any action relating to the appeal;and
(8) by order of the supreme court.
(b) Dismissal for Failure of Appellant to Pay Docket Fee. If the appellant fails to pay the docket fee as required, the appellee may file a motion in the supreme court to dismiss the appeal. The motion, accompanied by proof of service, must be supported by a certified copy of the judgment or order from which the appeal was taken, and a certified copy of the notice of appeal with the date of filing. The appellant may respond within 10 days after service of the motion.
Rule 12 was amended, effective September 1, 1983; January 1, 1988; March 1, 1996; March 1, 2003; March 15, 2010; March 1, 2011; October 1, 2014; April 8, 2024.
The docket fee must be paid only once and is to be paid by the first to file a notice of appeal if two or more parties file separate notices of appeal. The fee charged is found in N.D.C.C. § 27-03-05.
Subdivision (a) was amended, effective October 1, 2014, to require payment of the docket fee at the time the notice of appeal is filed with the clerk of the supreme court.
Subdivision (b) was added, effective October 1, 2014, to establish a procedure for provisionally filing a notice of appeal when a petition to waive the docket fee is filed.
Rule 12 was amended, effective March 1, 2003. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understandable and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
Rule 12 was amended, effective March 15, 2010 to refer to and provide the Petition To Waive Filing Fee Upon Showing Of Indigency as Appendix A.
Rule 12 was amended, effective October 1, 2014, to replace "supreme court clerk" with "clerk of the supreme court."
Rule 12 was amended, effective, April 8, 2024, upon the adoption of the supreme court’s electronic filing system.
SOURCES: Supreme Court Rulemaking of March 12, 2024: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of September 26, 2013, pages 21-22; April 29-30, 2010, page 20; April 26-27, 2001, page 10; September 29-30, 1994, pages 9-12; February 19-20, 1987, page 6; September 18-19, 1986, page 14; February 17-18, 1983, pages 1-3;November 18-19, 1982, page 14; May 25-26, 1978, pages 9-10, 34-35; March 16-17, 1978, pages 4-5; October 27-28, 1977, pages 7-8; September 15-16, 1977, page 19.
STATUTES AFFECTED:
SUPERSEDED: N.D.C.C. § 28-31-01.
CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.App.P. 3 (Appeal as of Right—How Taken) , N.D.R.App.P. 7 (Bond for Costs on Appeal in Civil Cases) , and N.D.R.App.P. 10 (The Record on Appeal) ; N.D.C.C. §§ 27-01-07 (Civil action fees—waiver) , 27-03-05 (Docket fee).