Bar Association CLE Presentation Peg L Allison, Clerk of District - PDF document

Bar Association CLE Presentation Peg L Allison, Clerk of District Court Feb 3, 2014 LOCAL DISTRICT COURT ORDERS All current orders are available on the clerk’s web site. https://flathead.mt.gov/clerk_of_court/DistrictCourtOrders.php LOCAL DISTRICT COURT RULES / 1991 https://flathead.mt.gov/clerk_of_court/links.php In 2012 the Bar Association finally resorted to offering to help with rules revision… The committee includes: Judge Allison <rallison@flathead.mt.gov>, Dani Coffman <dcoffman@crowleyfleck.com>, Sean Frampton <sean@morrisonframpton.com>, David Sandler <davidsandler@belawyers.com>, Amy Eddy <amyeddy@belawyers.com>, Kay Lynn Lee <kaylynnlee04@yahoo.com>, Bruce Fredrickson <bruce@kalviglaw.com>, Valori Vidulich <vev@kvhlaw.com>, Randy Ogle <rsogle@centurytel.net>, Brent Getty <bgetty@mt.gov> Brian Joos <joos@bigskyattorneys.com> PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS The antiquated local district court rules have a section on proposed jury instructions, but the information is no longer relevant. The Court Administrator needs for them to be submitted both hard-copy AND via email (or on CD) to the Judicial Assistant (JA). Each instruction must be saved as its own file in MS Word format. (This information is included in the email from JA that is distributed to parties prior to trial.) The Court Administrator has been asked to review and modify the entire Jury Instructions section. STIPULATIONS Must be submitted with proposed orders . The courts require the clerk to forward every stipulation to the judge – with or without a proposed order – for review and signature on the accompanying order. Local DC Rule 15 is entitled “Stipulations”, but there is no mention of proposed orders. Page 1

SC UNIFORM CASELOAD FILING STANDARDS ORDER (UCFSO) ~ AF 11-0360 The original UCFSO order was issued January 2006 and amended Nov 1, 2011. It significantly changes the way adoption, guardianship, conservatorship, dependent neglect, mental health, criminal, juvenile, and some family law cases are opened, i.e., in regard to only one person or one child per petition. http://supremecourtdocket.mt.gov/view/AF%2011-0360%20Rule%20Change%20-- %20Order?id={2CD18662-DA20-4856-815B-8409E67869D2} The UCFSO is also linked on the Flathead County Clerk of Court site under District Court Orders (for lack of a more appropriate page at this time). https://flathead.mt.gov/clerk_of_court/DistrictCourtOrders.php RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE / 10-1-2011 Seeing good compliance with the new rules ~ only a few folks have not changed their summons to indicate response time in 21 days rather than 20 days. SUBMISSION OF DOCS with title “Under Seal” or “Confidential” Cases that are public record by statute – such as DR domestic relations cases – cannot contain confidential documents unless sealed by statute or court order. Clerk’s suggestion s for process of sealing a public record: If the matter has been agreed upon between the parties:  Submit prepared stipulation or unopposed motion to seal, accompanying proposed order and the document to be filed under seal to the Court Administrator. The confidential document should be submitted inside a clasp manila envelope with a copy of the top page taped to the outside – clasp side down and at the bottom. If sealing the document is not or cannot be stipulated:  Contact Peg Allison, Clerk of Court, or the Office Administrator, Karole Sommerfield, to discuss the need to keep something sealed  Submit the motion to seal and proposed order directly to Peg or Karole along with the document to be filed under seal. The confidential document should be submitted inside a clasp manila envelope with a copy of the top page taped to the outside – clasp side down and at the bottom. o The motion will be marked up for briefing; Peg or Karole can keep the sealed document separate from the court file pending a ruling. Confidentiality is taken very seriously. ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES Barring an emergency, the courts do not allow documents to be filed by electronic means (facsimile or email) or documents with electronic, scanned, faxed, copied or emailed signatures. Page 2

DOCUMENTS without original signatures Frequently stipulations or affidavits are submitted without signatures – or without all signatures. A local district court order allows the clerk to refuse to accept for filing certain documents. https://flathead.mt.gov/clerk_of_court/DistrictCourtOrders.php Unsigned documents may be ‘lodged’ with the court, but no record of its existence will be created until a fully executed signed original has been submitted. DO NOT submit unsigned documents, assume they have been docketed in the case, and then submit single signature pages with a cover letter requesting that the clerk put it together with the unsigned document. The Clerk does not ever alter documents after submission for filing. E-FILING PROJECT The Supreme Court has embarked upon an e-filing project and is currently conducting meetings to draft e-file rules. Software purchased will be utilized in conjunction with current case management software (Full Court). The initial E-Filing Pilot sites will be the Supreme Court in February 2014 with the 4 th Judicial District to follow shortly thereafter. E-Filing will involve only State-initiated cases only for now. Once the pilot project has concluded, the clerk of court and administrative judge in jurisdictions must co-apply in order to participate. ENTERPRISE / case management software Though the Supreme Court has not officially announced the plan to purchase new case management software for the district courts, they are in the process of procuring funding for the new version of current software called Enterprise. This is a web-based product which will totally change access to and availability of court records. Funding is expected during the 2015 Legislative Session with implementation in a pilot phase by mid-2015 or in 2016. STATISTICS / CASELOADS / INACTIVITY DISMISSAL Our annual statistics chart shows caseload numbers from the year 2000 through 2013. https://flathead.mt.gov/clerk_of_court/links.php Contact information: Clerk of District Court Peg L. Allison 406-758-5581 pallison@flathead.mt.gov Page 3