Vol. 11, No. 4 May 2015
Filing fee web page updated
The Clerk’s Office has added more detail to its filing fee web page.
Long-time practitioners and first-time filers alike often question why fees
vary from county to county. The updated fee page lists the total filing fee of
the most commonly filed documents and includes links to a comprehensive breakdown
of the individual fees included within the total.
State statute allows the Arizona Supreme Court to set the base fee for
most filings. The Board of Supervisors in each county can add local fees. Many
of the updated listings include citations to the statute or other authority
that apply to the filing or fee. The revised filing fee web page has the same
URL as before, meaning any prior bookmarks to the page should bring up the
newest version. See the new and improved page at http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/fees.asp.
Interest bearing accounts
In some situations, the court will order a bond or other funds deposited
into an interest bearing account. Before accumulated interested can be
released, the Clerk’s office requires the recipient to complete and sign a W-9
tax form. This allows the Clerk and the depository bank to coordinate
federally-required forms and processes related to the accumulated interest. All
interest must be reported on a federal 1099 form. Providing the W-9 to the
Clerk’s Office will reduce or eliminate delays in accepting, posting, and
distributing funds.
Internal documents transition
to eFiling
The Clerk’s Office established a project to identify paper documents
created internally for filing-in to the court record. The project also found documents
the Clerk’s Office was printing and scanning for other court departments that
have potential for the departments to eFile directly.
In its first year, the project transitioned eight document types from paper
to a more efficient eFiling process, resulting in 35,038 eFiled documents. By
year’s end, the office anticipates eFiling more than 50,000 documents, plus any
new document types identified for addition to the project.
Documents considered for the project are vetted individually to ensure
all requirements for eFiling are identified and appropriate. Documents currently
under review include exhibit letters, returned mail, and court reporter
notifications.
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