(A) Time for Filing. Documents exempted from E-Filing under Rule 68 will be deemed filed with the Clerk when they are: (1) personally delivered to the Clerk (which, when the Clerk's Office is open for business, shall mean personally tendering the papers to the Clerk or the Clerk's designee; and at all other times (unless the Clerk specifies otherwise) shall mean properly depositing the papers into the "rotunda filing drop box" located in the vestibule of the east second-floor entrance to the State House);(2) deposited in the United States Mail, postage prepaid, properly addressed to the Clerk; or(3) deposited with any third-party commercial carrier for delivery to the Clerk within three (3) calendar days, cost prepaid, properly addressed. Documents not exempted from E-Filing under Rule 68 will be deemed E-Filed with the Clerk, subject to payment of all applicable fees, on the date and time reflected in the Notice of Electronic Filing. See Appellate Rule 68(I).
(B) Clerk's Functions. All functions performed by the Clerk are ministerial and not discretionary. The court retains the authority to determine compliance with these Rules.(C) Documents Tendered with Motions Seeking Leave to File. When a document tendered with a motion is ordered filed by the Court, any time limit for a response to that document shall run from the date on which the document is filed.(D) Notice of Defect - Received but not Filed. When the Clerk accepts a document as received but not filed, including a document that is noncompliant with the Rules, the Clerk shall stamp the document as "received" (but not filed) as of the date it would have been filed. (1) When a document is stamped as "received" due to noncompliance with the Rules the Clerk shall send a "Notice of Defect" to the attorney or unrepresented litigant that tendered the document, shall serve all other parties with a copy of the Notice of Defect, and shall note the transmission of the Notice of Defect on the docket if a cause number has been assigned to the matter. (a) Individuals who are incarcerated in a penitentiary, prison, or jail and are not represented by an attorney must correct defect(s) no later than twenty (20) business days from the date of the Notice of Defect. All other persons have ten (10) business days from the date of the Notice of Defect within which to correct defect(s) (b) If the attorney or unrepresented litigant corrects the defect(s) by the deadline provided in the Notice of Defect, and if the corrected document fully complies with the Rules in all other respects, the document shall be deemed filed as of the date the corrected document is filed with the Clerk's Office pursuant to Appellate Rule 23(A) and shall be deemed timely for purposes of any applicable filing deadline. Any corrected document shall be served upon all other parties pursuant to Appellate Rule 24. The Clerk shall send a "Notice of Cure" to the parties indicating that the defect has been cured.(c) If the attorney or unrepresented litigant fails to submit a fully compliant corrected document by the deadline provided in the Notice of Defect, the Clerk shall note this on the docket if a cause number has been assigned to the matter.(d) A list of defects noncompliant with the Rules can be found in Appendix B.(2) When a document is stamped as "received" for a reason other than noncompliance with the Rules any time limit for response or reply to that document shall run from the date on which the document is filed. The Clerk shall notify all parties of the date on which the "received" document is subsequently filed.(E) Signature Required. Every motion, petition, brief, appendix, acknowledgment, notice, response, reply, or appearance must be signed by at least one [1] attorney of record in the attorney's individual name, whose name, address, telephone number, and attorney number shall also be typed or printed legibly below the signature. If a party or amicus is not represented by an attorney, then the party or amicus shall sign such documents and type or print legibly the party or amicus's name, address, and telephone number. The signing of the verification of accuracy required by Rule 50(A)(2)(i) or 50(B)(1)(f) satisfies this requirement for appendices. E-Filed documents submitted through the IEFS shall comply with Rule 68(H).(F)Confidentiality of Court Records on Appeal.(1) Court Records are accessible to the public, except as provided in the Rules on Access to Court Records.(2) If a Court Record was excluded from Public Access in the trial court in accordance with the Rules on Access to Court Records, the Court Record shall remain excluded from Public Access on appeal unless the Court on Appeal determines the conditions in Rule 9 of the Access to Court Records are satisfied.(3) Procedures for Excluding Court Records from Public Access on Appeal. Any Court Record excluded from Public Access on appeal must be filed in accordance with the following procedures: (a) Notice to maintain exclusion from Public Access.(i) In cases where the Court Record is excluded from Public Access pursuant to Rules 5 or 6 of the Rules on Access to Court Records, the party or person submitting the confidential record must provide the separate written notice required by Access to Court Records Rule 5 identifying the specific Access to Court Records Rule 5(B), 5(C), or 5(D) ground(s) upon which exclusion is based. (See Form # App.R. 11-5 ).(ii) In cases where all Court Records are excluded from Public Access in accordance with Access to Court Records Rule 5(A), no notice of exclusion from Public Access is required.(b) Public Access and Non-Public Access Versions. Where only a portion of the Court Record has been excluded from Public Access pursuant to Access to Court Records Rule 5(B), 5(C), or 5(D), the following requirements apply: (i) Public Access Version.(a) If an appellate filing contains confidential Court Records to be excluded from Public Access, the confidential Court Record shall be omitted or redacted from this version.(b) The omission or redaction shall be indicated at the place it occurs in the Public Access version. If multiple pages are omitted, a separate place keeper insert must be inserted for each omitted page to keep PDF page numbering consistent throughout.(c) If the entire document is to be excluded from Public Access, the Access to Court Records ACR Form filed with the document will serve as the Public Access Version.(ii) Non-Public Access Version.(a) If the omitted or redacted Court Record is not necessary to the disposition of the case on appeal, the excluded Court Record need not be filed or tendered in any form and only the Public Access version is required. The Access to Court Records ACR Form should indicate this fact. (See Form # App.R. 11-6 ).(b) If the omitted or redacted Court Record is necessary to the disposition of the case, the excluded Court Record must be separately filed or tendered as follows. (1) The first page of the Non-Public Access Version should be conspicuously marked "Not for Public Access" or "Confidential," with the caption and number of the case clearly designated.(2) The separately filed Non-Public Access version shall consist of a complete, consecutively paginated replication including both the Public Access material and the Non-Public Access material.(3) Use of green paper is abolished for E-Filing. Pages in the Non-Public Access version containing Court Records that are excluded from Public Access shall instead be identified with a header, label, or stamp that states, "CONFIDENTIAL PER RULES ON ACCESS TO COURT RECORDS" or "EXCLUDED FROM PUBLIC ACCESS PER RULES ON ACCESS TO COURT RECORDS."(iii) The requirements in Rule 23(F)(3)(b) do not apply to cases in which all Court Records are excluded from Public Access pursuant to Access to Court Records Rule 5(A).(4) E-Filing document security codes settings.(a) Where only a portion of the Court Record has been excluded from Public Access pursuant to Rules 5(B), 5(C), or 5(D) of the Access to Court Record Rules, the E-Filing document security codes setting for the Public Access Version shall be "Public Document."(b) Where only a portion of the Court Record has been excluded from Public Access pursuant to Rules 5(B), 5(C), or 5(D) of the Access to Court Record Rules, the E-Filing document security codes setting for the Non-Public Access Version shall be "Confidential document under the Rules on Access to Court Records."(c) In cases in which all Court Records are excluded from Public Access pursuant to Rule 5(A) of the Access to Court Record Rules, the E-Filing document security codes setting shall be "Confidential document under the Rules on Access to Court Records."Amended April 12, 2016 effective 7/1/2016; amended November 29, 2018, effective 1/1/2019; amended November 15, 2019, effective 1/1/2020; amended December 19, 2019, effective 1/1/2020.