ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT CLERK S E-FILE BUSINESS PROCESSES AND Q&A S

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1 ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT CLERK S E-FILE BUSINESS PROCESSES AND Q&A S These processes are a work in progress and will likely change from time to time. Please check for updates! The Texas Supreme Court has mandated that all civil and family cases (with the exception of Juvenile cases) be filed electronically (e-filed). The following is a list of Frequently Asked Questions as well as some requirements the District Clerk has established to support the e-filing filing process that coincide with the Supreme Court Rules. WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF E-FILING The objective for creating the efiletexas.gov system is to provide an efficient, cost effective and reliable platform for submitting and processing court documents electronically. Attorneys need a convenient way to interact with Texas courts without coming to the clerk s counter, and they need to be able to do so 24/7/365. Courts need to improve efficiency and eliminate paper so they can provide citizens improved access to the court system and reduce costs. Everyone, including citizens expects to be able to interact with government entities the same way they interact with the private sector electronically, via the Internet. efiletexas.gov enables this. General Information: -All E-filed Pleadings have a 24hr Acceptance Period. Document must be in text searchable PDF when possible. All Parties Information must be entered including addresses. Make sure the attorney s address is on all the Pleadings. WHEN CAN I E-FILE? You can E-file 24/7/365! DO I HAVE TO E-FILE? Yes, e-filing is mandated for almost all documents filed by attorneys. Exceptions are listed in the Supreme Court Order adopted December 13, NO PAPER documents will be accepted and there will no longer be court files. 1

2 THERE IS NOT A FILING CODE WHICH FITS MY DOCUMENT TITLE EXACTLY. Search by the keyword of your document, you must do your best to select the filing code that best fits your document title. There will be a Filing Description tab next for a more accurate Document Title. WHAT DO I DO IF I M NOT SURE IF MY DOCUMENT REQUIRES A FILING FEE? Please call the clerk prior to your submission. A hold is placed on the total funds at the time of submission. Although the clerk may call for authority to add additional fees, the amount is not guaranteed therefore your submission most likely will be rejected. WILL I BE ALLOWED TO WALK THROUGH ANY FILINGS? There will be No Walk Through Pleadings Allowed. All pleadings MUST be E-filed. (See below) HOW TO E-FILE NEW & REACTIVATED (MO TO MOD, ENF, ETC) WITH ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT CLERK It will be necessary to file the pleadings in two phases if the case will contain proposed orders. Phase one containing the lead documents, cover letter, Petition, Motion, Civil Case Information Sheet, etc. If there is a court of continuing jurisdiction please place that information in your cover letter. Please request all service and any fee items in this envelope so that you do not have to make two credit card transactions. Upon receipt of the envelope of a NEW case the clerk will assign the court, case number and process all pleadings and you will receive an acceptance receipt with a file marked copy of your pleading, you will then have the assigned court and case number to place on subsequent pleadings. If it is a Reactivation where you have the case number, it will be processed in the same manner other than you will enter it in the E-filetxcouts.gov by placing the case # click go file into existing case. The case will only show up if it has been e-filed into already, if not you will click File Into Case Not Listed which will come up the screen after searching then manually input the data the first time. The second phase pertains ONLY if the case will have Proposed Orders that need to be forwarded to the court such as TRO s, Orders to Appear, Order s for Alternate Service, Order for Temp Injunction, Etc. Once you have received the confirmation acceptance of the Petition/Motion you may then file your Proposed Orders. You will be able to search and find you case (print screen samples are included.) You will choose Start a N It will be necessary to have a lead document so we have prepared a Request for Process form that will be required if service will be issued. This form is available on our website your proposed orders will be e-filed as attachments. If there is no service being issued you will need to use a cover letter as your lead document and your proposed orders as attachments. The envelope containing these filings will be forwarded directly to the court for the judge s review and signature. Once the court has completed processing the envelope it will be returned to the District Clerk for acceptance. Upon acceptance you will receive a receipt with a file marked copy of the orders. Receiving the assigned court and case number allows you to contact the court 2

3 concerning any proposed orders you may have submitted if you have not received confirmation within an acceptable period of time. HOW DO I FIND AND E-FILE INTO A CASE ALREADY E-FILED INTO? Choose Orange County District Clerk and in the next field put the case number as displayed below using lower case letters for example d c then click Go. See next screen print please. Type in county below then in next space the case #. It is best to use lower case letters. Then hit Go 3

4 The listing for that case will appear as below. It appears multiple times due to attorney s choosing different case types when filing into this case. It will not matter which one you choose to fill into since we are not integrated and will enter it into our CMS. You will click on the file folder which when you place your cursor over will display; Start a new subsequent filing for this case HOW DO I ENTER PARTIES IF THERE IS ONLY ONE AS IN A CHANGE OF NAME OF ADULT? You will enter your Petitioner/Plaintiff then if there is no Respondent/Defendant you will have to place N/A in the first and last name space so that the system will let you move forward to the filings screen. 4

5 HOW ARE PROPOSED ORDERS AND PROPOSED JUDGEMENTS SUBMITTED? Proposed orders and Proposed Judgments will be e filed as attachments so they can be directly routed to the Courts. It will be necessary to submit them with a cover letter as your lead document with any necessary instructions for the clerk or court. HOW DO I FILE OTHER PLEADINGS? All documents except Proposed Orders and Exhibits to documents should be filed as Lead Documents. Proposed Orders and Exhibits to Documents should be filed as Attachments. If you have any questions about how to do this please feel free to call. Vickie , Crystal , Anne MY PLEADING NEEDS A HEARING DATE AND TIME ENTERED. HOW IS THAT COMPLETED? It will not be. When accepted all pleadings are entered directly into our case management system and may not be altered. Your Notice of Hearing will need to be a separate e-filed sub-mission and will be forwarded directly to the court for processing. IF MY DOCUMENT HAS TWO CAUSE NUMBERS LISTED, DO I NEED TO SUBMIT THE DOCUMENT TWICE? Yes. Once for each cause number listed on the document. HOW FAR IN ADVANCE OF A SCHEDULED HEARING SHOULD MY DOCUMENTS BE E-FILED? Documents must be filed at least 48 hours prior to any scheduled hearings with the courts. Since documents are E-filed 24/7/365 we are required to process them in the order in which they are received. The Clerk s office has 24 hours to process each E-filing and our regular office processing time which is usually a 1 day turn around. The Clerk s office will not be able to search for documents not timely E-filed for hearings. WILL DOCUMENTS BE ACCEPTED BY MAIL? Unless it is a Pro Se Filing any documents sent by mail and postmarked on or after January 1, 2015 will be returned unfiled and instructions on how to properly e- file the pleading will be attached. 5

6 HOW WILL I RECEIVE A FILE MARKED COPY? Once a document is accepted the filer will receive a file marked copy through their E Filing Service Provider. HOW CAN ATTORNEYS OBTAIN A CERTIFIED COPY OF A JUDGMENT OR DECREE? The office will be available to fill certified copy requests, or when e filing, this option may be selected and proper payment applied and copies will be mailed or placed in the attorneys drawer for pick up. IS A NEW ENVELOPE NECESSARY FOR EVERY DOCUMENT? No, multiple lead documents may be filed using the same envelope provided the documents are being filed into the same case during the same transaction. Each separate document is filed as a lead document unless it is an exhibit to the document which must be filed as an attachment. Once an envelope has been filed and accepted no new filings will be able to be filed into that envelope. You may file into the same cause number but a new envelope will be generated, and documents filed must include the cause number. Proposed Orders must be submitted in their own envelope, however you may submit multiple Proposed Order for the same case in one envelope. WILL A CIVIL CASE INFORMATION SHEET HAVE TO BE FILED? Unfortunately, yes, according to TRCP 76 (a), a Civil Case Information sheet must be filed. It will be filed as a lead document. ARE E-FILED DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED THE COURT S ORIGINAL COPY? Any electronically filed document is deemed the original upon acceptance. WHAT ARE THE REASONS A DOCUMENT MAY BE RETURNED FOR CORRECTION OR REJECTED? According to the Technology Standards that were released on March 21, 2014, reasons for rejecting or returning a document are Sealed Documents; Vexatious Litigant; Insufficient Fees; Insufficient Funds; Document Addressed to Wrong Clerk; Incorrect/Incomplete Information; Incorrect Formatting; PDF documents combined; Illegible/Unreadable; Sensitive Data. 6

7 HOW DO I CONDOLIDATE A CASE? The motion and order to consolidate will need to be filed under the case that is being consolidated into the other case. HOW WILL SERVICE BE HANDLED? There are several options: 1. For private process service the Citation, etc. can be ed to the attorney who can then attached the service documents to a copy of the document being served. You will need to instruct us in the e-filing if this is how you want your service to be issued. You will also need to provide the address the service is to be issued to and a contact name and phone number in case we encounter an issue with the address. 2. A copy of the Pleading can be purchased with the initial e filing. We will then print your pleading/s and your service. Option 2 will be used for service by Sheriff or Certified Mail. WILL THERE BE A FORM TO REQUEST CITATIONS AND SERVICE? Yes, click on the following link, and a Request for Process Form will be available as a PDF that you can save and use for your convenience. Please file this as a lead document. HOW MANY DAYS DO I HAVE TO RE-SUBMIT A DOCUMENT THAT HAS BEEN REJECTED? Two days; include the following in the Filing Comments Field: Resubmission, original envelope number, date and time of the original filing 7