Vol. 10, No. 10 October 2014
Forms of Payment Update
Due to substantial improvements in compliance, the Clerk’s Office is suspending its plans to phase-out the acceptance of business checks for payment of court fees from law firms, attorneys, process servers, runner services, and document preparers. These customers may continue paying with checks drawn on their entity’s business account. The office thanks those who attended stakeholder meetings and provided input on this topic. Thanks also to those who use or transitioned to restricted procurement cards for fee payments.
As a reminder, the Clerk’s Office does not accept personal checks or any third-party form of payment, whether presented by the account holder or given to a business and made payable to the Clerk’s Office. Acceptable forms of payment for bonds differ from other court fees and are detailed on the Clerk’s website at http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/moneymatters.asp.
E-filing in Tax Cases Moves to AZTurboCourt
Effective Oct. 20, 2014, attorney-filed documents in Tax cases (TX case designation) must be electronically filed through AZTurboCourt. Case-initiating documents will still be filed on paper with the Clerk’s Office, but subsequent documents must be filed electronically through AZTurboCourt.
The implementing Administrative Order from the Supreme Court will be available online at http://www.azcourts.gov/orders/AdministrativeOrdersIndex.aspx. Information about AZTurboCourt, including registration and training manuals, is online at http://www.azcourts.gov/Default.aspx?alias=www.azcourts.gov/azturbocourtinformation.
The Superior Court in Maricopa County serves as the principle office of the Tax Court in Arizona for filing county and state-level challenges and appeals in the Tax Court. Small Tax cases (ST case designation) must still be filed on paper. Self-represented parties can choose to e-file through AZTurboCourt in TX cases or they may file on paper.
E-filing Now Accepts .docx Format
E-filers can now upload proposed orders in either MS Word .doc or .docx formats. Until now, parties had to “save-back” to the earlier-generation .doc format. Programming improvements now allow customers to choose. Related Administrative Orders and the eFiling Guidelines online will be updated to reflect this new ability.
Customer Service Week
Oct. 6 – 10, 2014 is National Customer Service Week. Thank you for your feedback and suggestions. Your opinions and experiences help shape the services and improvements the Clerk’s Office makes.
See the Clerk’s Corner article in the Maricopa County Bar Association’s October edition of the Maricopa Lawyer for an interesting perspective on customer service from a government organization. After publication, the Clerk’s articles are posted on the Clerk’s website at http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/clerks_corner.asp.
Child Support Guidelines Update
The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has completed its mandatory review of the child support guidelines. The AOC posted the proposed 2015 child support calculator online, as well as the final reports that accompanied the review. The public can comment on the guidelines until Oct. 9, 2014. For more information, go to http://www.azcourts.gov/familylaw/Home.aspx.
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