16th Judicial Circuit Court, Kane County, Illinois Electronic Filing Rules

All proposed orders must be e-filed on the same date as the hearing; failure to submit may result in dismissal.

Source text: All proposed orders shall be e-filed on the same date that the case was heard. Cases where no order was submitted may be dismissed for want of prosecution.

All returns of service must be promptly e-filed with the Circuit Court Clerk.

Source text: All returns of service (whether found or not found) shall be promptly e-filed with the Circuit Court Clerk.

Depositions, interrogatories, document requests, responses, and other discovery documents are prohibited from filing with Circuit Clerk, except requests to admit and responses.

Source text: Depositions, interrogatories, document requests, responses thereto, and other discovery documents will not be filed with the Circuit Clerk, except as permitted by (b) or (c) or pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 207. Requests to admit and responses thereto may be filed.

Documents may be filed in person, by U.S. mail, or as permitted by Supreme Court Rule or Circuit Clerk; email/fax signed copies accepted for scheduling dates.

Source text: Any document to be filed in any cause or proceeding may be filed in person or by United States mail, or as otherwise permitted by Supreme Court Rule or as allowed by the Circuit Clerk. For the purpose of securing scheduling dates, the Clerk of the Circuit Court may accept email or facsimile signed copies as originals.

All civil cases except WI (Wills), sealed, and impounded cases are permissible e-filing case types; Clerk directs phasing in of case types.

Source text: This Court hereby authorizes all civil cases with the exception of WI (Wills), and sealed and impounded cases as permissible electronic filing case types. The Circuit Court Clerk (Clerk) shall direct the phasing in of case types during implementation of electronic filing.

Unapproved document types filed electronically are rejected by the Clerk.

Source text: Any unapproved document type filed electronically by a subscriber shall be rejected by the Clerk of the Court.

Notices of appeal and post-judgment enforcement documents may be e-filed and served per Supreme Court Rules.

Source text: Any notice of appeal and post judgment enforcement proceeding documents may be e-filed and served in accordance with Supreme Court Rules.

Clerk accepts e-filings through authorized vendor or Clerk's computer workstation.

Source text: The Clerk shall accept and approve filings electronically through a vendor or through the Clerk's computer workstation.

Conventional (paper) filing is permitted; e-filing program cannot block valid paper filings; Clerk scans paper filings into electronic file.

Source text: The Clerk shall allow the filing of a document or pleading using the conventional manner of filing. At no time shall the e-filing program prevent or exclude the ability to file any valid pleading with the Clerk. In those circumstances, the Clerk shall scan conventionally filed documents into the electronic file.

Users must register with Clerk and authorized e-filing vendor prior to e-filing; attorneys must submit specified registration info; vendor assigns PIN for filing/serving.

Source text: Prior to filing any document electronically, users are required to register with the Clerk and the Court's authorized e-filing vendor. Attorneys must submit an e-filing Registration Form to the Clerk which shall include a minimum of the following information: firm name, attorney names and ARDC registration numbers, address, phone number, e-mail address for e-service, staffs’ contact information, selected method for paying filing fees. The vendor shall assign to the subscriber a confidential Personal Identification Number (PIN). The subscriber shall use this PIN to file, serve, receive, review and retrieve electronically filed pleadings, orders and other documents in an assigned case.

Pro se litigants may e-file via vendor with individual transactional agreements and credit card payment; assigned username/password by vendor.

Source text: Pro se litigants may utilize e-filing through a vendor on the internet by means of individual transactional agreements and credit card payment. Pro se litigants will be assigned a user name and password by the vendor.

Substitutable physical items may be e-filed as images; non-conducive items (sealed docs, physical exhibits) filed physically; motion to file physical items may be e-filed.

Source text: Physical items for which a photograph may be substituted may be electronically imaged and e-filed. Items not conducive to electronic filing, such as documents under seal and physical exhibits for which an image will not suffice shall be filed in their physical form at the Circuit Clerk's office or in the courtroom, as directed by order of the court and in conformity with Supreme Court "Electronic Filing Standards and Principles." The motion and notice of motion for permission to file any of these physical items may be done electronically.

Documents not complying with applicable format statutes, local rules, or standards may be rejected.

Source text: Documents not complying with the format specified by the applicable statute, or local rule, or standards may be rejected.

E-filed documents with verified user authentication deemed signed by user; facsimile/typographical signatures deemed in-person signed.

Source text: Any document filed electronically, including all pleadings, motions, documents, etc., using a verified user authentication shall be deemed to have been signed by the holder of the user authentication. Documents containing facsimile or typographical signatures may be filed electronically and shall be deemed to have been signed in person by the individual identified.

Accepted electronic documents must have an electronic file stamp with required info, merged into the document; required for official filing.

Source text: Each document reviewed and accepted for filing by the Clerk shall receive an electronic file stamp. The stamp shall be endorsed in the name of the Clerk by the deputy clerk accepting filing, and shall include the identification of the court, the official time and date of filing and contain the word "FILED." This file stamp shall be merged with the electronic document and shall be visible when the document is printed and viewed on-line. Electronic documents are not officially filed without the electronic filing stamp. Filings so endorsed shall have the same force and effect as documents time stamped in the conventional manner.

Documents requiring statutory filing fees must be e-filed in the same manner as other e-file documents.

Source text: The e-filing of a document requiring payment of a statutory filing fee to the Clerk in order to achieve valid filing status shall be filed electronically in the same manner as any other e-file document.

All General Orders issued by the Chief Judge must be filed with the Circuit Clerk for permanent record-keeping.

Source text: Copies of all General Orders issued by the Chief Judge shall be filed with the Circuit Clerk, who shall maintain them as permanent Court records.

The Financial Affidavit shall not be filed with the Circuit Clerk.

Source text: The Financial Affidavit itself shall not be filed with the Circuit Clerk.

Attorney fee invoices shall not be filed but must be presented to court at hearing.

Source text: In any action for attorney fees, the supporting invoice of legal services rendered shall not be filed, but shall be presented to the court at the hearing.

Electronic filers have the same responsibilities as conventional filers for document completeness, readability, and proper filing.

Source text: A person who files a document electronically shall have the same responsibility as a person filing a document in the conventional manner for ensuring that the document is complete, readable and properly filed.

E-filing subscribers/participants must notify parties, Clerk, vendor of contact info changes at least 10 business days before change takes effect.

Source text: All subscribers and other participants must immediately, but no later than ten (10) business days prior to when such a change takes effect, notify other parties, the Clerk and the e-filing vendor of any change of firm name, delivery address, fax number or e-mail address.

Subscriber agreement terms must be approved by Chief Judge/Clerk; vendor must give 30 days notice before agreement changes.

Source text: The Chief Judge of the Court or his/her designee, in coordination with the Clerk, shall review and approve the terms of the subscriber agreement. The vendor shall provide at least thirty (30) days of notice prior to the effective date of any subscriber agreement changes.

Affidavit of Income and Expenses should not be filed with circuit clerk unless directed by court.

Source text: The Affidavit of Income and Expenses form may be used in any pre or post-decree case involving financial issues, where the statutory Financial Affidavit (Family & Divorce Cases) referenced in section 501 of the IMDMA is not required by statute or by local court rule. The affidavit should not be filed with the circuit clerk unless directed by the court.

Routine probate estate filings may be processed by mail via probate administrative assistant, procedures approved by Chief Judge or Presiding Judge of Civil Division.

Source text: The Sixteenth Judicial Circuit may provide for a probate administrative assistant to assist attorneys and self-represented litigants to process routine estate filings by mail, through cooperation with the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. Procedures for such filings will be approved and promulgated by the Chief Judge or Presiding Judge of the Civil Division.

Clerk provides free e-file computer workstation access to attorneys and parties in e-file cases during normal business hours.

Source text: Without charge during normal business hours, the Clerk shall provide attorneys and parties in e-file cases access to an e-file computer workstation.

E-file vendor must issue confirmation with date/time upon submitting document to Clerk; notify subscriber if document not accepted, may require re-filing.

Source text: Upon receipt by the vendor, and submission of an electronic document to the Clerk, the vendor shall issue a confirmation to the subscriber. The confirmation shall indicate the time and date of receipt, and serve as proof that the document has been submitted to the Clerk. A subscriber will receive e-mail notification from the vendor if a document is not accepted by the Clerk's office. In that event, the subscriber may be required to re-file the document to meet necessary filing requirements.

E-file vendor must maintain and update e-service lists per case, use current list for service.

Source text: The e-filing vendor is required to maintain an e-service list for each e-filed case. The vendor shall immediately update the service list upon being given notice of new contact information. Whenever a document is submitted for service upon other parties by the e-filing vendor's system, the e-filing vendor shall use the most current e-service list to perform service.

E-file vendor must transmit daily statutory filing fees to Clerk's account, provide detailed breakdown per transaction.

Source text: At the end of each business day, the vendor shall electronically transmit to the Clerk's bank account all statutory filing fees required for that day's electronic filings. The vendor shall electronically provide the Clerk a detailed breakdown including case number, type of transaction and party being billed for the payment for each deposit.

E-file vendor service fees are separate from and in addition to statutory filing fees, belong solely to the vendor.

Source text: Fees charged to e-filing subscribers by the vendor for vendor services are solely the property of the vendor and are in addition to any statutory fees associated with statutory filing fees.

E-file vendors with Clerk agreements are appointed as the Clerk's agent for e-filing, receipt, service, and retrieval of documents.

Source text: E-filing vendor(s) with Electronic Information Project Agreements executed with the Clerk are hereby appointed to be the agent of the Clerk regarding electronic filing, receipt, service and/or retrieval of any pleading or document via the e-filing vendor system.

E-file vendor must make e-filed and e-served documents available to subscribers and court users per Clerk contract and Supreme Court policy.

Source text: The e-filing vendor shall make electronically filed documents, and documents being served electronically through the e-filing vendor's system, available to subscribers and the designated court authorized users through the e-filing vendor's system in accordance with the current contract between the Clerk and the filing vendor, and consistent with the Supreme Court's Electronic Access Policy for Circuit Court Records of the Illinois Courts.

E-file vendor may charge fees/impose contract requirements for e-filings, except no fees for government users or indigent parties.

Source text: The e-filing vendor may require payment of a fee or impose other reasonable requirements by contract with a subscriber as conditions for processing electronic filings. Pursuant to contract terms, the e-file vendor must provide services but is not permitted to require payment of a fee for government users or parties deemed indigent by the Court.

All e-filed documents and data remain property of the Court; vendor may not use them for unauthorized purposes.

Source text: Ownership of the documents and access to the data associated with all e-filed documents remains with the Court. The electronic documents processed by the e-filing vendor remain the property of the Court and neither the documents nor the data from the documents and/or transactions shall be used by the e-filing vendor for any other purpose other than those specifically authorized by the Chief Judge of this Court or his/her designee, in coordination with the Clerk.

Parties may e-file fully executed proposed settlement documents for judge review without court appearance; Allocation Judgment/Parenting Plan may be filed anytime if signed by both parties.

Source text: Parties may e-file fully executed proposed settlement documents with the Kane County Circuit Clerk for the assigned judge’s review and discretionary entry without a court appearance. (The Allocation Judgment/Parenting Plan may be filed at any time if signed by both parties).