Rule 36 Clerical Mistakes

Here's what this rule means for you.

If there's a small clerical error in a court document, like a judgment or order, the court can fix it at any time. This includes typos, wrong dates, or other mistakes that happened because something was overlooked or left out by accident. This is not about changing the court's actual decision. It's just about correcting simple mistakes in how that decision was written down.

The court gets to decide if people need to be notified before the fix happens. In some cases, the court might just correct the error on its own without a big process. In others, it might give notice first, especially if the correction could affect someone's rights or understanding of the case.

This rule exists so that small errors don't cause big problems later on. If your name is spelled wrong, a date is off, or some other minor slip-up appears in your case record, this rule lets the court clean it up without needing a full hearing or new motion process.