Local Rule Local Rule 5-1: Format of Documents Presented for Filing

Local Rule 5-1 - Format of Documents Presented for Filing

(a) Filing. A document or item submitted in relation to a matter within the court's jurisdiction is deemed filed upon delivery to the office of the clerk in a manner prescribed by these rules or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a General Order of the Court, or other Court Order. Any submission directed to a Judge or Judge's staff, the office of the clerk or any employee thereof, in a manner, such as email, that is not contemplated by this rule and without prior court authorization is prohibited.

(b) General. Any pleading, motion, brief, affidavit, notice, or proposed order filed with the court, whether electronically or with the clerk, must:

• be plainly typewritten, printed, or prepared by a clearly legible copying process;

• have at least 1-inch margins;

• use at least 12-point type in the body of the document and at least 10-point type in footnotes;

• be double spaced (except for headings, footnotes, and quoted material);

• have consecutively numbered pages;

• include a title on the first page;

• if it has four or more exhibits, include a separate index that identifies and briefly describes each exhibit;

• if it is a form of order, include a statement of service, in the format required by S.D. Ind. L.R. 5-5(d) in the lower left corner of the document; and • in the case of pleadings, motions, legal briefs, and notices, include the name, complete address, telephone number, facsimile number (where available), and e-mail address (where available) of the pro se litigant or attorney who files it.

(c) Electronic Filings. Any document submitted electronically must be:

• in PDF format; • converted to a PDF file directly from a word processing program, unless it exists only in paper format (in which case it may be scanned to create a PDF document); and • submitted as one or more PDF files that do not exceed 35 megabytes each.

(1) Filings submitted via the court's electronic case filing ("ECF") system must comply with the CM/ECF Policies and Procedures Manual.

(2) Filings submitted via the court's Web Portal must comply with the General Order addressing the Web Portal.

(3) Filings submitted by litigants incarcerated by the Indiana Department of Correction through the court's Prisoner Electronic Filing Program must comply with the General Order addressing that program.

(d) Paper Filings.

Any document filed on paper must:

• be on good-quality, 8.5" x 11" white paper; • be single-sided; • not be stapled; and • include the original signature of the pro se litigant or attorney who files it.

(e) State Court Criminal Records Filed in Habeas Actions. All original state court criminal records filed in habeas actions must be filed electronically, with the exception of exhibit volumes and confidential records which may be filed manually.

Local Rules Advisory Committee Comments Re: 2016 Amendment In certain instances, the court will direct the parties to submit items directly to chambers (e.g., confidential settlement statements). However, absent specific prior authorization, counsel and litigants should not submit letters or documents directly to chambers, and such materials should be filed with the clerk.