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Administrative Order 16 - ELECTRONIC FILING PILOT PROJECT FOR THE DISTRICT COURTS

Effective Date: 7/1/2012

Obsolete Date: 1/15/2013

A. Electronic Filing.

1. Documents filed electronically in the district courts must be submitted through the Odyssey� electronic filing system.
2. In any matter filed after April 1, 2013, all documents after the initiating pleadings must be filed electronically except for documents filed by self-represented litigants and prisoners. On a showing of good cause, an attorney may be granted leave of court to file paper documents. Initiating pleadings may be filed electronically in non-criminal cases.
3. A document filed electronically has the same legal effect as a paper document.
4. Any signature on a document filed electronically is considered that of the attorney or party it purports to be for all purposes. If it is established that the documents were transmitted without authority, the court must strike the filing.

B. Filing Formats.

1. Approved formats for documents filed electronically are WordPerfect (.wpd), Word (.doc or.docx), Tagged Image File (.tif), Portable Document File (.pdf) and ASCII (.txt).
2. All paragraphs must be numbered in documents filed electronically. Reference to material in such documents must be to paragraph number, not page number.

C. Time of Filing.

1. A document in compliance with the rules and submitted electronically to the district court clerk by 11:59 p.m. local time is considered filed on the date submitted.
2. After reviewing an electronically filed document, the district court clerk must inform the filer, through an e-mail generated by the Odyssey� system, whether the document has been accepted or rejected.
3. Any required filing fee must be paid by credit card or debit card at the time the document is filed.

D. Confidentiality. In documents prepared for filing with the court, information that would otherwise be included in the document but required by N.D.R.Ct. 3.4 to be redacted in court documents must be separately filed in a reference sheet (confidential information form, see appendix) and may be included in those documents only by reference. Any document not complying with this order is subject to N.D.R.Ct. 3.4(g).


E. Electronic Service.

1. A party who files a document electronically must serve the document by electronic means if the recipient consents to accept documents served electronically. In any matter filed after April 1, 2013, all documents after the initiating pleadings must be served electronically through the Odyssey� system except for documents served on or by self-represented litigants and prisoners. On a showing of good cause, an attorney may be granted leave of court to serve paper documents or to be exempt from receiving electronic service.
2. Electronic service is not effective if the party making service learns that the attempted service did not reach the person to be served.
3. After April 1, 2013, any party not exempt from electronic filing must designate an e-mail address for accepting electronic service.
4. For purposes of computation of time, any document electronically served must be treated as if it were mailed on the date of transmission.

F. Technical Issues; Relief. On a showing of good cause, the court may grant appropriate relief if electronic filing or electronic service was not completed due to technical problems.

G. Effective Date. This Order is effective March 1, 2006, and remains in effect until further order of the Court.

The Supreme Court of the State of North Dakota convened this 28th day of June, 2012, with the Honorable Gerald W. VandeWalle, Chief Justice, and the Honorable Dale V. Sandstrom, the Honorable Mary Muehlen Maring, the Honorable Carol Ronning Kapsner and the Honorable Daniel J. Crothers, Justices, directing the Clerk of the Supreme Court to enter the above order.


Petra H. Mandigo Hulm 
Chief Deputy Clerk 
North Dakota Supreme Court

Adopted effective January 15, 2013; amended effective April 15, 2013; June 1, 2013; June 1, 2015; March 1, 2016; March 1, 2017; March 1, 2019; March 1, 2021; March 1, 2024.

Rule 3.5 was originally adopted as N.D.Sup.Ct.Admin.O. 16 on March 1, 2006. Order 16 was later amended, effective March 1, 2008; March 1, 2009; August 1, 2010; March 1, 2011; July 1, 2012; March 1, 2018.

Order 16 was amended, effective July 1, 2012, to incorporate the provisions of the Order 16 Addendum (Filing in the District Court where Odyssey Electronic Filing is Available) and N.D.Sup.Ct.Admin.O. 18 (Filing in Counties Using the Odyssey Case Management System). The Order 16 Addendum and Order 18 were repealed, effective July 1, 2012.

In an appeal from an agency determination under N.D.C.C. § 28-32-42, the notice of appeal must be served on all the entities listed in the statute, some of whom may not be subject to electronic service through the Odyssey system.

Subdivision (a) was amended, effective March 1, 2016, to clarify that self-represented litigants and prisoners who wish to file documents electronically must use the Odyssey system and to require a party filing a proposed order to identify the party in the Odyssey filing description field.

Paragraph (a)(6) was amended, effective March 1, 2024, to authorize any individual to use an electronic signature in a document filed under this rule.

Paragraph (b)(1) was amended, effective June 1, 2015, to remove Word documents from the list of approved formats for electronic filing in the Odyssey system. If a court requests that parties submit editable documents such as proposed findings or orders, Word or other editable format documents still may be e-mailed to the court for that purpose but only after e-filing the documents in Odyssey in an approved format.

Paragraph (b)(2) was amended, effective March 1, 2018, to specify that paragraphs must be numbered using arabic numerals.

Paragraph (b)(2) was amended, effective March 1, 2019, to except documents that consist of a single paragraph from the paragraph numbering requirement.

Paragraph (b)(3) was added, effective March 1, 2018, to add a reference to Appendix K, which contains document guidelines.

Subdivision (c) was amended, effective March 1, 2016, to clarify that a document electronically signed by the court is considered filed when the e-signature is affixed.

Subdivision (c) was amended, effective March 1, 2018, to require a notice of document rejection to state all provisions of Appendix K or other statute, rule or case relied upon for the rejection and to delete the requirement to file a notice of resubmission.

Paragraph (e)(4) was amended, effective March 1, 2018, to provide that documents served electronically are treated as delivered on the day of transmission.

Paragraph (e)(5) was added, effective March 1, 2018, to require counsel to use the Attorney Subscription Management System for notice of filing by the court.

Subdivision (g) was added, effective March 1, 2017, to explain that once a document is accepted into the Odyssey system, the document is a court record and no further proof that the document is a court record is needed when the record is distributed between courts or files using the Odyssey system.

Rule 3.5 was amended, effective March 1, 2021, to delete the term “affidavit” and replace it with “declaration.” This amendment was made in response to N.D.C.C. ch. 31-15, which allows anyone to make an unsworn declaration that has the same effect as a sworn declaration, such as an affidavit. N.D.C.C. § 31-15-05 provides the required form for an unsworn declaration.

SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 28, 2023, pages 16-17; April 24, 2020, pages 4-5; April 27, 2018, pages 13-14; September 28, 2017, pages 2-10; April 27, 2017, pages 14-19; January 26-27, 2017, page 30; May 12-13, 2016, pages 15-22; January 28-29, 2016, pages 8-11; April 23-24, 2015, pages 2-3; January 29-30, 2015, pages 13-14; April 25-26, 2013, pages 3-16; January 31-February 1, 2013,pages 2-5, 15-18; September 27, 2012, pages 14-21; April 29-30, 2010, page 21; April 24-25, 2008, pages 12-16; October 11-12, 2007, pages 3-5; April 26-27, 2007, pages 16-18; January 25, 2007, pages 15-16; September 23-24, 2004, pages 18-27.

STATUTES AFFECTED:

CONSIDERED: N.D.C.C. ch. 31-15, § 28-32-42.

CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.Ct. 3.1 (Pleadings); N.D.R.Ct. 3.4 (Privacy Protection for Filings Made with the Court); N.D.R.Ct. Appendix K (Electronic Filing Requirements); N.D.R.Civ.P. 4 (Persons Subject to Jurisdiction; Process; Service); N.D.R.Civ.P. 5 (Service and Filing of Pleadings and Other Documents); N.D. Admission to Practice R. 1(General Requirements for Admission).

Effective Date Obsolete Date
03/01/2024 View
03/01/2021 03/01/2024 View
03/01/2019 03/01/2021 View
03/01/2018 03/01/2019 View
03/01/2017 03/01/2018 View
03/01/2016 03/01/2017 View
06/01/2015 03/01/2016 View
06/01/2013 06/01/2015 View
04/15/2013 06/01/2013 View
01/15/2013 04/15/2013 View
07/01/2012 01/15/2013 View
03/01/2011 07/01/2012 View
08/01/2010 03/01/2011 View
03/01/2009 08/01/2010 View
03/01/2008 03/01/2009 View
03/01/2006 03/01/2008 View