news
Colorado Judicial Branch
Mary J. Mullarkey, Chief Justice
Gerald Marroney, State Court Administrator
________________________________________________________________________
Nov. 17, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Salaz
303/837-3633
1-800-888-0001 Ext. 633
Mandatory e-filing ordered in Arapahoe, Douglas and Elbert counties
Requirement begins Jan. 1, 2006, in selected case types
Mandatory e-filing in selected types of cases will soon be implemented in three
Eighteenth Judicial District courts. Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, all district court civil and
probate cases filed in Arapahoe County District Court, Douglas County Combined Court
and Elbert County Combined Court will be subject to mandatory electronic case filing
and service.
“Courts are turning to e-filing of documents as an efficient, cost-effective, tool in
handling the escalating volume of cases and volume of documents filed in these cases,”
says Eighteenth Judicial District Chief Judge John Leopold. “As the number of cases
filed in our courts continues to steadily increase, e-filing has become an increasingly
important case management tool.”
Licensed attorneys must electronically file and serve all pleadings, motions,
briefs, affidavits, exhibits and all other documents in accordance with this order. All
documents relating to a single pleading may be filed electronically as a single transaction.
For example, a motion, exhibits and related affidavits may be filed under a single
transaction.
Parties who are not represented by an attorney may continue to file documents in
the traditional paper format, and the Clerk of Court will scan and upload certain paper
filed documents to LexisNexis File and Serve.
Access to electronic case filings may be obtained from court staff during regular
court business hours. Arapahoe County District Court, Douglas County Combined Court
and Elbert County Combined Court will provide and maintain a Public Access Terminal
for access to electronic cases. Copies of electronic documents may be purchased from
court staff at $.25 a page.
The system, powered by LexisNexis File and Serve, enables attorneys to file
documents with the courts and electronically serve other attorneys in the case from any
Internet-connected personal computer. Once a document has been filed, courts can
review, accept or reject, and store the documents online. Notifications are instantaneous.
The information contained in the electronic filing is also automatically
downloaded into the court’s electronic case management system. This saves data entry
on the court side.
Colorado courts launched the first statewide electronic filing service in January
2001. The total system allows electronic filing of legal documents for civil, domestic
relations, probate and water court cases in all Colorado district courts however the
mandatory e-filing procedure being implemented in the Eighteenth Judicial District is
now only required in district court civil and probate cases.
Editor’s note: A full copy of the Eighteenth Judicial District Chief Judge’s Order:
Order Regarding Electronic Filing and Service is available at
http://www.courts.state.co.us/district/18th/18efileorder.pdf . The LexisNexis File & Serve
web site, lexisnexis.comifileandserve, provides additional information regarding
electronic filing computer requirements, fees, service of documents and training
opportunities
This information is provided as an e-mail service of the Colorado State Judicial Branch, Office of State Court Administrator, 1301
Pennsylvania Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colo. 80203. To discontinue this service or update your e-mail address, please respond to this
message with your name, contact information and any comments.