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Vol. 13, No. 10 October 2017
Play by the rules
The Arizona Supreme Court took
action on rule change petitions at the end of August and will consider more
petitions in December. The Court Rules Forum is online and a one-stop source
for pending petitions, links to the current rules, recent amendments,
historical amendments, pending local rule changes, frequently asked questions
and more. See the Forum online at http://www.azcourts.gov/Rules-Forum.
Adopted rule change petitions
usually take effect the January following the Court’s rules agendas (August and
December). Because of extensive and novel changes in some recent rules,
implementation of those rules have been pushed back to July 1, 2018. While the
legal community will be reading the new rules as usual, this delayed
implementation for some rules is a sign that practitioners and support staff
should be looking for continuing education, articles, and other promotional
events to learn about the changes and how to implement them so they are prepared
on the effective date. This unusual grace period is welcome, but those who are
not familiar with and prepared for the changes could find themselves in a tough
spot defending their practices or citations to rules that no longer apply. Most
of the rules from the August and December agendas will still be effective on
January 1, 2018.
Electronic certification
The
Clerk’s Office started electronically certifying and transmitting court records
to the Arizona Attorney General’s office in 2013 and has expanded the service
to other state agencies since then. Electronic certification is a process that
digitally places the Clerk’s seal and a unique certification number on
individual documents. State agencies are statutorily directed to accept
electronically certified documents and non-state agencies and individuals can
choose to accept electronically certified records. The Clerk’s Office is
developing a plan to expand e-certifications to more documents, including
marriage licenses, as a way to improve the security and efficiency of
certifying and providing records. Stay tuned for future developments.
We’re open
A reminder for your hectic schedules: The Clerk’s
offices will be open regular business hours on Monday, October 9. The Clerk and
Superior Court are open on Columbus Day but closed the Friday after
Thanksgiving (November 23 and 24).
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