Local Rule 138: FILES AND RECORDS – EXHIBITS

RULE 138 (Fed. R. Civ. P. 39)

FILES AND RECORDS – EXHIBITS

(a) (1) Official Court Record. Except as provided by these Rules, the official court record in all actions filed after January 3, 2005 is the electronic case file. For cases filed before January 3, 2005, all documents filed up to January 3, 2005 will be maintained in paper format; all documents filed after January 3, 2005 will be maintained in electronic format. The official court record in these actions is paper up to January 3, 2005 and electronic thereafter. After January 3, 2005, the official record shall include paper documents permitted by these Rules. When paper filings are authorized, the Court may order that the paper filings be maintained indefinitely by the Clerk until archival and may also order that the paper file created be the official record of the Court.

(a) (2) Custody and Withdrawal of the Official Case Record. All electronic and paper files and records of the Court shall remain in the custody of the Clerk. No file and no record, paper, or item belonging to the files of the Court shall be taken from the custody of the Clerk without a special order of the Court and a receipt given by the party obtaining it, describing it and the date of its receipt, except as otherwise provided by this Rule. Retention of sealed paper documents shall be governed by the sealed documents procedures. See L.R. 141.

(b) Administrative Records. Due to the usual size of administrative records, attorneys shall, if possible, submit the administrative record in electronic format with a mandatory courtesy copy in paper for the assigned Judge or Magistrate Judge. If there is no electronic record, the Clerk will accept for filing a certified paper copy accompanied by an electronic "Notice of Filing in Paper Format." The administrative record will be maintained in paper format and returned to the submitting attorney at the conclusion of the action, if no appeal is filed, and after appeal or further proceedings in the district court as appropriate. Administrative record or trial transcript procedures for Social Security or habeas corpus actions are set forth in L.R. 190(f), 191(i), and 206(c). Pro se parties shall submit the administrative records in paper if they have the obligation to file the administrative records.

(c) (1) Pretrial/Post-trial Exhibits and Affidavits; Size Guidelines for Electronic Format. Unless otherwise permitted or required to be filed in paper format by these Rules, all pretrial exhibits and affidavits must be submitted in electronic format. While there is no presumptive page limit on exhibits that may be submitted to the Court in electronic format, voluminous scanned attachments and exhibits may have to be divided into separate attachments. Current size limits for documents submitted through CM/ECF can be found through the Court Information link on the Court's CM/ECF Welcome Page: https://ecf.caed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/CourtInfo.pl.

(c) (2) Scanning Exhibits. Absent special circumstances, exhibits that are black and white documents should be scanned in black and white with a scanner configured at 300 dots per inch (dpi), if possible. (Higher resolutions take too much electronic file space and are slower to load/upload, while lower resolutions will provide a poor quality document). Documents in color in their original form, such as color photographs, may be scanned in color and submitted. The filing counsel shall verify the readability of scanned documents before filing them electronically. Parties who anticipate filing many exhibits in color should seek special procedures for filing at the time of a scheduling conference or from the Court at reasonable time before the due date of the filing. These procedures could include an exemption from the usual electronic size of a filed document or filing in paper.

(c) (3) Retention of Scanned Documents. Originals of documents requiring scanning that are filed electronically must be retained by the filing counsel and made available, upon request, to the Court and other parties, for at least one year after final judgment and completion of all appeals. If law, including state law concerning attorney practice, or the needs of the action require further retention, filing counsel shall retain the originals for the necessary period.

(d) Pretrial/Post-trial Exhibits; Conventional (Paper) Submission. Pro se parties may only file paper documents and need not seek permission to do so. If an attorney, for exceptional circumstances, believes submission of exhibits must be in paper format, the attorney must apply to the Court for an exemption from the requirement for electronic submission. Any such application must be filed no less than seven (7) days before the date the filing is due. When exhibits are submitted in paper format, the party shall file and serve the exhibits and also electronically file, a one page .pdf document entitled "Notice of Attachment" referencing the electronically-filed pleading, motion or other document pertinent to the Notice and stating that exhibits are being submitted in paper. The Notice shall specify the date of the order permitting filing in paper to enable the docket to reflect that documents are being held as ordered with the Clerk in paper format. The party shall also file a CD or other appropriate media containing the filed exhibits for the Clerk's use. Unless the Court orders otherwise, no court file containing the paper exhibits shall be maintained, and the exhibits shall be placed in the chronological paper file and discarded after a one year period.

(e) Trial Exhibits. Exhibits offered or admitted at trial will not be scanned or received electronically unless ordered by the Court.

(f) Custody of Exhibits. All exhibits, including models and diagrams marked for identification or introduced in evidence, upon the hearing of any action or motion, shall be delivered to the Clerk, who shall keep custody of the same, except as otherwise ordered by the Court. All exhibits received in evidence that are in the nature of narcotic drugs, legal or counterfeit money, firearms or contraband of any kind shall be entrusted to the custody of the arresting or investigative agency of the Government pending disposition of the action and for any appeal period thereafter.

(g) Withdrawal of Civil Exhibits. In a civil action, after judgment has become final or upon the filing of a stipulation of the parties waiving the right of appeal, rehearing and a new trial, any party may withdraw any evidentiary exhibit originally produced by that party unless some other person files and serves on all other parties prior notice of a claim or entitlement to the exhibit, in which case the Clerk shall not deliver the exhibit, except with the written consent of all claimants, until the Court has determined the identity of the person entitled thereto.

(h) Withdrawal of Criminal Exhibits. Absent a stipulation of all parties, see L.R. 143, the Clerk shall maintain all exhibits during the pendency of the criminal trial and all appeals unless otherwise provided in these Rules. Following the spreading of mandate, the Clerk shall notify all parties of the availability of the exhibit for repossession by the party offering the exhibit in the absence of objection by another party. If no objection is lodged within twenty-eight (28) days, the Clerk may return the exhibit to the party offering it on request.

(i) Disposition of Unclaimed Exhibits. If exhibits are not re-claimed within sixty (60) days after notice to the parties to claim the same, the Clerk may dispose of them as the Clerk may deem fit.

(j) Substitution of Copies. Unless there is a specific reason why original exhibits should be retained, the assigned Judge or Magistrate Judge may, upon stipulation or motion, order them returned to the party to whom they belong upon the filing of a copy certified by the Clerk or approved by counsel for all parties concerned.

(k) Electronic and Mailed Correspondence. Non-case related correspondence is not governed by these Rules. Appropriate case-related correspondence shall be transmitted to the email address or conventional mail address of the pertinent courtroom deputy clerk. The assigned Judge or Magistrate Judge to whom the correspondence is addressed will determine whether such correspondence should be filed.

(l) Submission of Audio and Video Files on Portable Media. All audio and video files are required to be submitted electronically in one of the formats listed on the Electronic Evidence Submission page on the Court's Website www.caed.uscourts.gov. Submissions must be made on either a Compact Disk (CD), Digital Video Disk (DVD), or USB (Universal Serial Bus) Flash Drive. All other formats requiring proprietary programs to view electronic files will not be accepted. Media submitted to the Court must be labelled, contain files for submission only and be free of damage.