Administrative Order 14 ELECTRONIC FILING PILOT PROJECT

Obsolete Date: 12/1/2004

This order provides for electronic filing with the supreme court.

A. Electronic Filing.

1. Parties may electronically file documents with the supreme court.

2. A document filed electronically has the same legal effect as an original paper document.

3. The typed attorney or party name or facsimile signature on a document filed electronically has the same effect as an original manually affixed signature.

B. Filing Formats.

1. Documents filed electronically may be submitted by e-mail to supclerkofcourt@ndcourts.gov. E-mailed documents must be in portable document format or approved word processing format.

a. Approved word processing formats for documents filed electronically are WordPerfect, Word, and ASCII. Parties must obtain permission from the supreme court clerk in advance if they seek to submit documents in another word processing format.

b. All paragraphs must be numbered in approved word processing format documents. Reference to material in such documents must be to paragraph number, not page number.

c. Hard page breaks must separate the cover, table of contents, table of cases, and body of approved word processing format briefs.

d. If permission is granted to file electronically an appendix, the appendix must be submitted in portable document format.

2. Documents filed electronically may be submitted to the supreme court clerk by facsimile only if e-mail submission is not possible. Documents filed by facsimile must be submitted to the supreme court clerk at 701-328-4480.

C. Time of Filing.

1. A document in compliance with the Rules of Appellate Procedure and submitted electronically to the supreme court clerk by 11:59 p.m. Bismarck time shall be considered filed on the date submitted.

2. Upon receiving a document filed electronically, the supreme court clerk will issue an e-mail confirmation that the document has been received.

3. A party filing a document electronically must pay any required filing fee.

4. A party filing electronically must pay a surcharge for internal reproduction of the document by the supreme court.

a. No surcharge payment is required for motions and comments less than 20 pages in length, including appendices or attachments. A party electronically filing a motion or comment must pay $.50 per page for each page in excess of 20 pages.

b. A party electronically filing any brief, whether in an appeal, request for supervision, or request for extraordinary writ, must pay a surcharge of $25. No surcharge payment is required for a reply brief or a petition for rehearing.

c. A party electronically filing an appendix with a brief must pay an additional surcharge of $15. If the appendix is more than 50 pages in length, a party must pay $.50 per page for each page in excess of 50 pages. The charges under this subparagraph also apply to a party electronically filing an appendix with a request for supervision, a request for extraordinary writ, or a response to any of these.

5. A party must pay all required fees within five days of submitting a document filed electronically. If fees are not paid within five days of submission, the document will be returned by the supreme court clerk and the party will be required to refile the document.

D. Electronic Service

1. If a party files a document by electronic means, the party must serve the document by electronic means unless the recipient of service cannot accept documents served electronically.

2. If the recipient's e-mail address is published in the supreme court's online directory, a party may serve documents by electronic means at that e-mail address. A party may also contact the recipient and serve electronically documents at an e-mail address specified by the recipient. Attorneys may designate a law firm e-mail address as their e-mail address for the purpose of accepting electronic service.

3. Documents served electronically may be served by facsimile only if e-mail submission is not possible and if prior permission to serve by facsimile is granted by the recipient.

4. If a recipient cannot accept electronic service of a document, service under another means specified by N.D.R.App.P. 25(c) is required.

E. Effective Date. This Order is effective August 1, 2003, and remains in effect until further order of the Court.

Dated at Bismarck, North Dakota, July 9, 2003.

Gerald W. VandeWalle, Chief Justice
William A. Neumann, Justice
Dale V. Sandstrom, Justice
Mary Muehlen Maring, Justice
Carol Ronning Kapsner, Justice

ATTEST: 
Penny Miller, Clerk

[Adopted effective March 1, 2003; amended effective August 1, 2003.]