Rule Text
16.311(1) The following documents must be attached electronically to a filed electronic document without a separate electronic cover sheet:
a. When a court order is required to amend a previously filed document, the proposed amendment must be attached to a motion for leave to file that document.
b. Any item that is included as an exhibit to a document must be attached to the electronic document.
c. Any additional pages required to complete a court form must be attached to the electronic court form.
16.311(2) Separate documents may be submitted at the same time but must be uploaded separately, with an individual document type selected for each document.
Amendment history: Court Order November 21, 2016, temporarily effective November 21, 2016, permanently effective February 1, 2017] [Court Order November 21, 2016, temporarily effective November 21, 2016, permanently effective February 1, 2017] [Court Order November 21, 2016, temporarily effective November 21, 2016, permanently effective February 1, 2017
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
If you file documents electronically in Iowa courts, some items need to be attached directly to your main document instead of filed as separate papers. For example, if you want to change something you already filed and need the judge's permission first, you have to attach your proposed changes to the motion asking for that permission. You do not file the changes as their own separate document with their own cover sheet.
The same rule applies to exhibits. If you are including an exhibit with a document, it needs to be attached to that document, not filed on its own. This also applies to court forms. If a form needs extra pages to be complete, those pages get attached to the form itself.
At the same time, if you have multiple different documents to file, you still need to upload each one separately. When you do this, you have to pick the correct document type for each one in the e-filing system. So the rule works both ways: attach items that belong together into one filing, but keep separate documents as separate uploads with their own labels.
Committee Notes
Rule 16.311(1). Supporting materials attached to an application, motion, court form, or verification of account, etc., were called “exhibits” prior to electronic filing. In EDMS, those supporting materials are called “attachments,” and the term “exhibit” is reserved for evidence entered into the record at a hearing or trial. Examples of documents that are attached to other documents include supporting documents that are attached to an adoption petition, a written notice of intention to file an application for default that must be attached to a request for default, additional pages completing a court form, and evidence or affidavits used to support an application or a motion. The filer uploads the application, form, or motion into EDMS, and then selects “Attachment” as the document type for the supporting materials. When the filer picks the “Attachment” document type, the system prompts the filer to pick the document to attach to. The document and attachment are then electronically linked and will show on the case docket as related. See rule 16.412(5) (exhibits to pleadings).
Rule 16.311(2). Examples of such submissions are a petition for dissolution of marriage, a motion for temporary support, and a financial affidavit. There are, however, some documents that should not have other documents attached to them. For example, nothing should be attached to a proposed document. Also, a proposed order should not be attached to any other document, including the motion or application regarding that order.
