N.D. Sup. Ct. Admin. Order
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER 16 - ELECTRONIC FILING PILOT PROJECT
FOR THE DISTRICT COURTS
A. Electronic Filing.
1. Except for initial pleadings, parties may electronically file documents in the district courts.
2. A document filed electronically has the same legal effect as a paper document.
3. The typed attorney or party name or facsimile signature on a document filed electronically has the same effect as an original manually affixed signature.
B. Filing Formats.
1. Documents filed electronically may be submitted by e-mail to the district court clerk. A directory of district court clerk e-mail addresses is available online at the supreme court website. E-mailed documents must be in portable document format or approved word processing format.
a. Approved word processing formats for documents filed electronically are WordPerfect, Word, and ASCII. Parties must obtain permission from the district court clerk in advance if they seek to submit documents in another word processing format.
b. All paragraphs must be numbered in approved word processing format documents. Reference to material in such documents must be to paragraph number, not page number.
2. Documents filed electronically may be submitted to the district court clerk by facsimile only if e-mail submission is not possible. A directory of district court clerk fax numbers is available online at the supreme court website.
C. Time of Filing.
1. A document in compliance with the rules and submitted electronically to the district court clerk by 11:59 p.m. local time shall be considered filed on the date submitted.
2. Upon receiving a document filed electronically, the district court clerk will issue an e-mail confirmation that the document has been received.
3. A party filing a document electronically must pay any required filing fee.
4. A party filing electronically must pay a surcharge for internal reproduction of the document by the district court. No surcharge payment is required for documents less than 20 total pages in length. A party electronically filing a document must pay $.50 per page for each page in excess of 20 pages.
5. A party must pay all required fees within five days of submitting a document filed electronically. If fees are not paid within five days of submission, the document will be returned by the district court clerk and the party will be required to refile the document.
D. Electronic Service.
1. If a party files a document by electronic means, the party must serve the document by electronic means unless the recipient of service cannot accept documents served electronically.
2. If the recipient's e-mail address is published in the supreme court's online directory, a party may serve documents by electronic means at that e-mail address. A party may also contact the recipient and serve electronically documents at an e-mail address specified by the recipient. Attorneys may designate a law firm e-mail address as their e-mail address for the purpose of accepting electronic service.
3. Documents served electronically may be served by facsimile only if e-mail submission is not possible and if prior permission to serve by facsimile is granted by the recipient.
4. If a recipient cannot accept electronic service of a document, service under another means specified by the rules is required.
E. Effective Date. This Order is effective _______________, and remains in effect until further order of the Court.
[Adopted effective _______________________.]