Local Rule 4.1
FACSIMILE FILINGS
Pleadings, motions,
exhibits and other case documents, other than those outlined in section 4.1 (A)
of this Local Court Rule, may be filed with the Crawford County Clerk of Courts
Office by facsimile transmission to 419-562-8011, subject to the following
conditions.
Applicability
These rules apply to
all proceedings in the
Definitions
“Fax” is an abbreviation for “Facsimile”
and refers, as indicated by the context, to a facsimile transmission or to the
document transmitted.
“Source document” is the document transmitted to the Court by fax and held by the person
making the fax.
4.1 (A)
The following documents will not be accepted for fax filing:
·
cognovit
promissory note
·
original
complaint and accompanying paperwork for a new domestic or civil case action
·
motion
for reopening of a case
·
answer
with cross complaint needing service
·
debtor’s
exam
·
writ
of possession
·
garnishment
·
service
by publication and/or precipe for order of sale
·
making
and/or filing and/or releasing of a certificate of judgment
·
request
for execution by the Sheriff
·
filing
of an appeals action
·
filing
of a motion/application for sealing or expungment of a criminal record
4.1 (B) Attorneys and pro se litigants
shall limit use of facsimile to filings of an emergency or time-critical nature
only. A filing is of an emergency or
time-critical nature if a document is due to the Court by set deadlines, and/or
hearings and will not arrive to the Court via regular or express mail or cannot be brought to the Clerk of Courts Office for filing
with the Court within the available timeframe.
Attorneys and pro se litigants shall call the appropriate court personnel
(Civil/Criminal Case Manager or Domestic Relations Case Manager) or the Clerk
of Courts Office prior to faxing any document.
4.1 (C) A
document filed by fax shall be accepted as the effective original filing and the
signature accepted as original consistent with applicable rules. The attorney or pro se litigant making a fax
filing need not file any source document with the Clerk of Court. However, the source document must be retained
by the sending party in his/her records until the case is closed and all
opportunities for post judgment relief are exhausted, with original signatures
and the facsimile cover sheet used for the filing, and shall be available for
production upon request of the Court.
4.1 (D)
The attorney or pro se litigant must provide with the filing of the document by
fax a cover sheet containing the following information: (See appendix of this
Local Court Rule for the preferred Facsimile Filing Cover Page.)
4.1 (D)(1) If a document is received by the
Clerk of Courts Office by fax without the cover sheet information listed above,
the Clerk may, at its discretion:
·
cause
the document to be filed, enter it into the case docket and make it a part of
the case file; or
·
deposit
the document in a file of failed faxed documents with a notation of the reason
for the failure and shall not cause the document to be filed, entered into the
case docket or made a part of the case file.
4.1 (D)(2) The Clerk of
Courts Office is not responsible to notify any sending party of a failed fax
filing. The sending party shall retain
receipt generated by their sending device as evidence of the filing of the
document and shall maintain said receipt with the source document. The sending party bears the entire risk of
transmitting a document by fax to the Crawford County Clerk of Courts Office.
4.1 (E)
Exhibits to a faxed filing that cannot be accurately transmitted via fax for
any reason or are too lengthy to be faxed must be replaced by an insert page
describing the exhibit and the reason(s) it is missing. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the
exhibit must then be filed, as a separate document, no later than five (5)
court days following the receipt of the faxed document. Failure to file the exhibit as outlined in
this section may result in the Court’s striking the document and/or
exhibit. A cover sheet shall accompany
any exhibit filed in this manner. The
cover sheet shall contain the case caption, case number and title of the
exhibit being filed (e.g. Plaintiff Smith’s Notice of Filing Exhibit “G” to
Plaintiff Smith’s Response to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss), and shall be
signed and served in conformance with the rules governing the signing and
service of pleadings.
4.1 (F)
The Crawford County Clerk of Courts Office facsimile machine shall be available
to receive faxed filings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The date and time as imprinted on each page
of the transmitted document shall be the time the document is received
by the Clerk. Any transmission received
and accepted for filing outside the standard office hours of Monday through
Friday,
4.1 (G) A
sending party who wishes to file a signed source document by fax shall either
fax a copy of the signed source document or fax a copy of the document without
the signature but with the notation “/s/” followed by the name of the signing
person where the signature appears in the signed source document. The sending party who files a signed document
by fax represents that the physically signed source document is in his/her
possession or control.
4.1 (H) A
transmitted filing shall not exceed more than fifteen (15) pages in length.
Filings exceeding this amount shall not be filed by fax without prior approval
from the appropriate court personnel (Civil/Criminal Case Manager or Domestic
Relations Case Manager) or the Clerk of Courts Office. Service copies shall not be transmitted with
the source document, as the Court or Clerk will make necessary copies. If a sending party needs to transmit a filing
for more than one case, each case filing shall be transmitted separately with a
separate cover sheet as outlined in section 4.1 (D) of this Local Court Rule.
4.1 (I)
Any faxed filing that requires a filing fee shall not be accepted by the Clerk
for file stamping until filing fees have been paid. Acceptable forms of payment are check or
cash.
(Amended