All appellate courts will accept electronically filed documents in January 2016. The Indiana Supreme Court and Court of Appeals recently began accepting e-filings, and the Tax Court will join the initiative in January 2016. Chief Justice Loretta Rush announced the implementation of e-filing in all appellate courts by signing the order for Tax Court e-filing. The order can be found at http://courts.in.gov/files/order-other-2015-94S00-1512-MS-676.pdf. Rush called the e-filing project “a modern and efficient approach to handling cases.”
In 2014 the Indiana Supreme Court announced the implementation of statewide e-filing to reduce paper copies, postage, and trips to the clerk’s office. With strong support from the legislative and executive branches, attorneys, clerks, judges, and staff, e-filing is underway with plans for statewide implementation by the end of 2018.
The first step began in Hamilton County in July 2015. Within the first 100 days more than 4,000 documents were filed electronically. In November 2015 the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals began accepting electronic cases and within the first month 600 documents were filed electronically. In January 2016 the Tax Court will accept e-filings.
Supreme Court Justice Steven David and Court of Appeals Judge Paul Mathias lead the e-filing initiative. Justice David said, “The Indiana Supreme Court is committed to the most effective use of technology to ensure that courts operate with efficiency and fairness. E-filing is a key component of our modernization plans.” Judge Mathias noted the enthusiasm of litigants to use e-filing rather than paper documents, “Within the first few months of e-filing nearly 5,000 documents were filed electronically.”
Information about e-filing can be found at courts.in.gov/efile. The rules and implementation schedule, list of service providers, and details about training sessions are online. Those interested can also subscribe to receive email updates about e-filing.
