Vol. 10, No. 12 December 2014
eFiling Guidelines Updates
With the Supreme Court’s issuance of Administrative Order 2014-99, the Clerk’s Office has updated the eFiling Guidelines Online. The Guidelines apply to documents electronically filed through both the Clerk’s eFiling Online website (criminal and family court cases) and through AZTurboCourt (civil and TX-type tax cases).
Some updates and reminders from the guidelines:
- Documents must have a file size of 10MB or smaller;
- Documents cannot be password protected;
- Documents should be filed in PDF format or with word processing software that produces a .doc or .docx format;
- All proposed orders must be filed in .doc or .docx format;
- Exhibits for the court’s consideration in issuing an order must be submitted with a Motion, Notice, or Stipulation to be included in the official case file. Exhibits lodged with a proposed order do not get filed-in.
View the eFiling Guidelines online at https://efiling.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/efilingguidelines/.
Court Rule Changes and Legislation
January 1 is the effective date for many new court rules and amendments. Family Law Procedure Rule 12 has a provision for sealing records. Note that requests to seal a document or case should be presented directly to the assigned judicial officer. Documents that contain the information sought to be protected from the public could be viewed by the public pending the court’s decision if filed first with the Clerk. Documents sealed by court order require another court order authorizing later access.
Following an Arizona Supreme Court decision, the criminal procedure rules were updated to clarify that the pronouncement of sentence in open court is the date of entry of the judgment, regardless of when the clerk files-in related documents. In most case types, the date of entry is the date of filing with the clerk, unless an exception applies.
When drafting pleadings and orders and when stating appearances in court, note that the legislature changed the names of several processes and agencies. For example, Child Protective Services (CPS) is now the Department of Child Safety and case workers and case managers were renamed child safety workers and investigators, respectively. Custody was renamed legal decision making. Visitation remains the proper term for time spent with children by non-parents like grandparents, but visitation was renamed parenting time for parents.
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