Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 125.04
As amended through June 5, 2024
Every document required by these rules to be served on other parties must be filed with proof of service contained on or affixed to the document. Service may be proven by any of the following means:
An affidavit or certificate of service is required for any document served with the district court's electronic filing system.
The clerk of the appellate courts may permit documents to be filed without proof of service, but shall require proof of service to be filed promptly after filing the documents.
Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 125.04
The filing of all papers must be made within the time designated in the applicable rule.
Filing by mail addressed to the clerk of the appellate courts is authorized but must be accomplished by deposit in the mail, first class postage prepaid, within the designated time period. To the extent practical, all papers shall include the appellate court docket number and attorney registration license numbers.
The clerk of the appellate courts is not authorized to file any papers unless and until the appropriate fee has been paid (Minnesota Statutes, section 357.08(1983)) or the documents are accompanied by a written statement of the reason no fee is required.
Proof of service must be filed with the clerk of the appellate courts at the time the notice, petition or motion is filed or immediately thereafter.
Advisory Committee Comment-2008 Amendment
Rules 125.01and03are amended to make clear the intent of the existing rule: that service and filing "by mail" under the rules requires use of the United States Mail. This clarification parallels a similar set of amendments to the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure. Compare Minn. R. Civ. P. 6.05 (amended in 2007 to specify U.S. Mail) with Minn. R. Civ. P. 4.05 (historically requiring use of first-class mail). The rule also makes it clear that it is permissible to use Federal Express, UPS, or other commercial courier for both filing and service, but delivery by that means is treated as any other hand delivery, and effective only upon receipt. Additional time for response to service by these services is thus neither required nor provided for, because the response period begins to run at the time of receipt.
These rules are also amended to make it clear that neither service nor filing by facsimile are ordinarily allowed in the appellate courts. In exigent circumstances the courts may request that courtesy copies of papers be provided by facsimile, but originals must be filed as provided in Rule 125.01.Service by facsimile is not generally permitted by rule, but if a party agrees to be served by facsimile it is permissible under the amended rule and is effective upon receipt. This provision recognizes that service by facsimile may be cost-effective and convenient for motions, notices, and other papers; it is unlikely to be used for briefs and appendices. The scope of any agreement to consent to service by facsimile should be carefully defined; it will be the unusual appeal where the parties really want their agreement to extend to the briefs and any appendices. The extension of this provision to service "by other electronic means" is intended to permit service by electronic mail, again only where the party to be served has agreed to it for the type of document involved.
Advisory Committee Comment-2014 Amendments
Rule 125 is amended to provide explicitly for filing and service of documents electronically. While filing by facsimile or other electronic means is not permitted without an order from the court authorizing it, the parties may consent to service by facsimile or e-mail (the primary "other electronic means" that might be elected). Service by any means other than electronic service using the appellate courts' e-service system requires that proof of service be filed with the clerk of the appellate courts. The rule now authorizes the use of a certificate of service, which may be filed to verify based on facts stated that service has been effected using the specified means, but does not have to be made in the form of an affidavit on personal knowledge of the person serving the documents.
Rule 125.01(d) is a new provision that defines the interaction of the trial court rules for service with these rules. It permits documents that are to be filed in the trial court to be filed and served by any means authorized by the trial court rules. This rule is intended to permit parties to use the trial court's electronic filing and electronic service system for these documents. Because that filling would not result in proof of service being transmitted to the appellate courts' electronic filing system, separate proof of service must be filed with the clerk of the appellate courts. This proof might be provided, for example, by certificate of service that recites the fact of service and the fact of confirmation received from the district court system, attaching a copy of the confirmation message.
Rule 125 is also amended to change several references to "papers" to "documents." This change is not intended to change the interpretation of the rule, other than to recognize that not all appellate court filings are in paper format.
Advisory Committee Comment-2016 Amendments
Rule 125.01 is amended to include a cross-reference to Rule 125.03, which prohibits use of facsimile transmission for service of appellate pleadings except with the consent of the party to be served. That prohibition continues to apply even for the initial appellate documents (typically the notice of appeal or a petition), which are the only appellate documents that the rules require the parties to file in the district court. See Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 103.01, subd. 1(d).
Advisory Committee Comment-2019 Amendments
Rule 125.04 is amended to make it clear that proof of service must be filed for documents served using the district court's electronic filing system. This amendment is intended to remove confusion over proof of service for the small number of appellate documents that are served and filed in the district court. These include the notice of appeal or petition initiating the appeal (see Rule 125.01(d)) and the motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (see Rule 109.02).