Local Rule LR 5A: ELECTRONIC FILING AND ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO CASE FILES

LR 5A ELECTRONIC FILING AND ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO CASE FILES a. Authorization. The Clerk of Court is authorized and directed to do the following:

1. Maintain an electronic case file in the court's Electronic Case Filing ("ECF") system for all cases filed with the court, including civil, criminal, and magistrate cases;

2. Receive case filings into the ECF system by electronic transmission; and 3. Image documents filed in paper form into the ECF system.

The Clerk of Court also is authorized to assign a "Miscellaneous" case number to certain collateral filings.

Specific rules, requirements, procedures, and limitations relating to electronic filing and electronic access to case files are set out in the ECF Procedures Manual. (See LR 1(l)). Additional rules, requirements, procedures, and limitations may be set out in administrative orders issued by the court. The ECF Procedures Manual and the administrative orders will be available from the Clerk of Court and will be posted on the courts' websites.

b. Electronic Filing Mandatory. All lawyers admitted to practice before the court, including lawyers admitted pro hac vice in civil cases and criminal cases (see LR 83(d)(3)83(1)(d)(3)), must register to participate in the ECF system, and must submit all documents to be filed with the court electronically unless otherwise required or authorized by these rules, the ECF Procedures Manual, or the Clerk of Court or by order of the court. Although the Clerk of Court will not refuse to accept a document submitted for filing non-electronically (see Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d)(4) and Fed. R. Crim. P. 49(b)(5)), the court may strike or order the document not to be filed if filing non-electronically is not specifically authorized or required by these rules, the ECF Procedures Manual, the Clerk of Court, or the court.

Information on how to register in the ECF system and how to set up an account for the payment of fees may be obtained from the Clerk of Court and also is posted on the courts' websites.

c. Pro Se Parties. All documents submitted to the Clerk of Court for filing by parties proceeding pro se must be in paper form. With respect to all such documents, if a party represented by a lawyer would have been required to file the document electronically under these rules or the ECF Procedures Manual, then the Clerk of Court will scan and upload the document into the ECF system. Pro se parties who desire to file documents electronically via the ECF system in a case in which they are a party may request permission for the Court to do so by filing a motion with the court requesting such relief. contacting the Clerk of Court in writing.

d. Electronic Filing, Service, and Docketing. The electronic transmission of a document to the ECF system consistent with the procedures specified in these rules and the ECF Procedures Manual, together with the production and transmission of a Notice of Electronic Filing ("NEF") by the ECF system, constitutes filing of the document, service of the document on all persons who have appeared in the case and are ECF system registrants, and entry of the document on the docket kept by the Clerk of Court.

e. Documents Not to Be Electronically Filed or Maintained in the Electronic Case File. Except as noted below, unless otherwise required or authorized by these rules, the ECF Procedures Manual, or the Clerk of Court, the following documents are not to be filed electronically, but must be filed in paper form.

Any document the court orders not to be electronically filed or maintained in the electronic case file. (For example, although there are no limitations on the page length of documents required by these rules to be filed electronically, the court, for good cause shown, may grant a party leave to file a lengthy document in paper form only). The Clerk of Court has the discretion to either scan and upload these documents into the ECF system or maintain the documents in a paper file, or both.

f. Format of Electronic Filings. To be filed electronically, documents first must be converted to a format compatible with the requirements of the courts' computer system. To the extent possible, electronic filings also must conform with the requirements of Local Rule 10.

g. Procedures for Filing Specific Types of Documents.

1. Documents Initiating Civil Cases. A lawyer initiating a civil case in the court by either (A) filing an original action in the court, or (B) removing an action to the court, must open the case electronically through the ECF system.

2. Civil Summonses. When a new case is filed, the Clerk of Court will electronically provide to the plaintiff a signed summons bearing the court's seal.

3. Documents Initiating Criminal Cases. The United States Attorney's office must open criminal and magistrate cases through the ECF system in the manner provided in the ECF Procedures Manual.

4. Briefs. A brief filed in support of a motion must be electronically attached filed under the same docket entry as the motion as an electronic attachment to the motion.

5. Documents Which Require Leave of Court. If leave of court is required to file a document (for example, an amended complaint or an over-length brief), the document must be filed as an electronic attachment to the motion requesting permission from the court to file the document. If the court grants the motion, the Clerk of Court will detach and docket the document. This section does not apply to the filing of sealed documents, which is governed by Local Rule 5(c).

6. Proposed Orders. Where appropriate (for example, in the case of protective orders, orders for writs, orders for warrants for arrest in rem, and form orders), a proposed order may be electronically attached to a motion requesting entry of the order. However, proposed scheduling orders and discovery plans must be filed in compliance with Local Rule 16(b).

A proposed order that contains personal data identifiers (see LR 10(g)10(h)) must not be electronically attached to a motion requesting entry of the order or the personal data identifiers will become part of the public case file.

7. Documents Prepared Under Penalty of Perjury. A sworn or unsworn declaration, verification, certificate, statement, oath, or affidavit prepared under penalty of perjury may be filed electronically, but the original paper version of any such document, bearing the original signature and any verification, must be maintained by the filer during the pendency of the case and for 5 years after the filing of the document, and must be filed promptly if ordered by the court or requested by another party.

8. Filings Totaling More Than 100 Pages in Length. If a motion, resistance, or reply, together with any supporting filings, totals more than 100 pages in length and is filed electronically, within 7 days after the document is filed, the filer must deliver to the Clerk of Court, for use by the presiding judge, a paper copy of the docketed motion, resistance, or reply, together with any supporting filings, reproduced on one side of the page, bound or fastened at the left margin, and tabbed to facilitate ready reference. (See LR10(c)(3)).

9. Administrative Records. Where the court is asked to rule in a case based on an administrative record, such as a Social Security benefits case or a claim-review case brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the administrative record must be filed electronically, but within 7 days after the administrative record is filed, the filer must deliver to the Clerk of Court, for use by the presiding judge, a paper copy of the administrative record. For good cause shown, a party may request leave to file a lengthy administrative record in paper form only.

h. Signing of Electronic Filings. An authorized filing made through a person's electronic filing account, together with the person's name on a signature block constitutes the person's signature for purposes of Local Rule 11 and the applicable Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal, and Appellate Procedure. All documents filed electronically must have the filer's name stated in a signature block, with an imaged signature or an "/s/" in the place of the filer's signature.

All electronic filings are presumed to have been made by the person or party whose login name and password have been used to make the electronic filing. No lawyer may knowingly cause or permit the lawyer's login or password to be utilized by anyone other than the lawyer or an authorized employee of the lawyer's law office. If a pro se party obtains court approval to participate in the ECF system, the pro se party must not knowingly cause or permit the pro se party's login or password to be utilized by any other person.

If a login or password is lost, misappropriated, or misused, the person who owns the login name and password must notify the Clerk of Court promptly of the loss, misappropriation, or misuse. The court may cancel the login and password of any person responsible for the loss, misappropriation, or misuse of a login or password, or not allow that person to participate further in the ECF system.

i. Original Documents Retained by Lawyer or Party. The electronic filer of a document that contains the signature of a non-lawyer or has potential evidentiary value in a case must maintain possession of the original paper version of the document during the pendency of the case and for 5 years after the filing of the document A lawyer or a party who disputes the authenticity of a signature on an electronically-filed document must file an objection to the signature within 14 days after the lawyer or party receives the NEF. If no timely objection is filed, the court will presume the signature to be authentic.

j. When Electronic Filings Can Be Made; Official Filing Date and Time. Unless contrary to the specific requirements of these rules or an order of the court, an electronic filing can be made on any day of the week, including holidays and weekends, and at any time of the day or night. The NEF generated by the ECF system when the document is filed and docketed will record the date and time of the filing of the document in local time for the State of Iowa. This date and time will be the official filing date and time of the document regardless of when the filer actually transmitted the document to the Clerk of Court.

Emailing a document to the Clerk of Court or to the court does not constitute "filing" of the document. A document is not filed electronically for purposes of the Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal, or Appellate Procedure until the ECF system generates a NEF for the document.

k. Service of Documents Filed Electronically.

1. Electronic Service. Electronic service through the ECF system is hereby authorized pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5(b)(2)(E) and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49(a)(3). A registration form signed by a person registering for the ECF system constitutes a request for, and consent to, electronic service of court orders and judgments and documents filed electronically by other parties. Electronic service of documents will be by electronic notice to the recipient's email address on the ECF system.

When a document is filed electronically, it will be served electronically through the ECF system on all persons who have appeared in the case and are ECF system registrants. No other service on such persons is required. Electronic service of a document is complete when a NEF for the document is produced and transmitted by the ECF system. Electronic service is not effective, however, if the filer learns that the NEF did not reach the person to be served.

2. Service on Nonparticipants in the ECF System. Electronic filers are responsible for serving parties who are not participants in the ECF system in the manner required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5(b)(2)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (F) or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49(b)49(a)(4).

l. Technical Failures.

1. Jurisdictional Filing Deadline. Some deadlines in the Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal, and Appellate Procedure are jurisdictional and cannot be extended. (See, e.g., Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(2)). It is the filer's responsibility to ensure, by whatever means necessary, that a document is filed timely to comply with jurisdictional deadlines. A technical failure, including a failure of the ECF system, will not excuse the filer from compliance with a jurisdictional deadline.

2. Nonjurisdictional Filing Deadline. If a filer is unable to meet a nonjurisdictional filing deadline because of a technical failure, the filer must file the document using the earliest available electronic or non-electronic means. The filing of the document will be accepted by the court as timely unless the presiding judge determines that the untimely filing of the document should not be excused.

m. Access to Electronic Case Files. Any person may access the court's public electronic case files. To do so from a location outside the Clerk of Court's office, the person first must obtain a password and an account from PACER for the payment of fees. Access to electronic case files is subject to the payment of fees as authorized by the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts. Information about public access to electronic case files is available on the courts' websites.

In each staffed courthouse in the district, the Clerk of Court will maintain at least one public access terminal from which the court's public electronic case files may be accessed by members of the public at no charge. Conventional and certified copies of documents filed electronically may be purchased at the Clerk of Court's office during business hours. The fee for copying and certification will be as established by the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts.