Champaign County Court of Common Pleas, General Division Electronic Filing Rules

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 5, 2026CRITICAL

E-filing is available in civil and criminal cases with limited exceptions, and counsel and self-represented persons must consult the Clerk's website to determine whether a case may be e-filed.

As set forth in this rule, e-Filing will be available in both civil and criminal cases, with limited exceptions. The Clerk shall maintain on the Clerk's website a list of all case types which may be e-Filed. Counsel and persons representing themselves shall consult the Clerk's website to determine whether a case may be e-Filed. All documents that are e-Filed are subject to the requirements, exceptions and limitations set forth in these rules.

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 5, 2026CRITICAL

Court pleadings, documents, and entries may be filed in paper or electronic form, and the Clerk generally may not restrict electronic filing unless the courthouse facility completely fails to receive electronic communications.

(a) Pleadings, documents or entries of the Court may be filed with the Clerk either in paper format or in electronic format. Absent total failure of the courthouse physical facility to host or receive electronic communications, the Clerk shall not prohibit or restrict the filing of pleadings, documents or entries of the Court in electronic format.

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 5, 2026CRITICAL

Electronic filing of pleadings, documents, and court entries must use the designated online platform.

(b) The Clerk of Courts has determined that the filing of pleadings, documents or entries of the Court in electronic format shall be accomplished through the use of the designated online platform.

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When the designated online filing platform is unavailable, the Clerk must provide an electronic-mail filing channel.

If the designated online platform is rendered unavailable for public access for any reason, the Clerk shall provide for the filing of pleadings, documents and entries of the Court through electronic mail while the designated online platform is unavailable.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 5, 2026WARNING

Applies to

Indictment

Criminal indictments may be electronically filed under the local rules and must be served on defendants under the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Indictments in criminal cases may be submitted for e-Filing in compliance with these Rules and shall be served on defendants according to the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 5, 2026WARNING

Under the labeled old version, electronic documents may be submitted around the clock, but filers during nonbusiness hours assume the risk of technical failure.

2) Old version: Documents may be submitted to the Clerk for e-Filing 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Parties filing after normal business hours (8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays) assume the risk of technical failures that prevent e-filing of their document.

Checked against the court's document on Oct 5, 2026INFO

Under the labeled new version, documents may be submitted for electronic filing at any time, seven days a week.

New version: Documents may be submitted to the Clerk for e-Filing 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Checked and corrected to match the court's document on Oct 5, 2026INFO

A conformed signature on an electronically submitted document has the effect of a legal signature.

The conformed signature on an electronically-submitted document, is deemed to constitute a legal signature on the document.

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(C) Faxed filing is not permitted.

Summary: Filing by fax is prohibited.

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(ii) The submitting party or attorney shall then include an affirmation that the contents of the document are acceptable to all persons required to sign the document. The submitter shall indicate the agreement of all other counsel and/or parties at the appropriate place in the document, usually on the signature line.

Summary: The submitting party or attorney must affirm that all required signatories accept the document and indicate their agreement at the appropriate signature line.

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(iii) The submitting party or attorney shall then submit the document electronically, identifying all of the other signatories as follows: "/s/ Jane Doe, per written authorization, by John Smith," etc.

Summary: An electronically submitted document requiring multiple signatures must identify each other signatory using the stated written-authorization format.

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The following documents may not be e-Filed: 1) Complaints filed pursuant to R.C. 2903.214 for Civil Stalking Protection Orders and/or Civil Sexually Oriented Offender Protection Orders. 2) Complaints on Cognovit Notes. 3) Complaints in Appropriations Cases. 4) Foreign Judgments. 5) Any document required to be filed under seal or in camera. 6) Motions for temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunction or other immediate relief. 7) All documents related to Judgment Liens, Certificates of Judgment, Garnishments, Writs of Possession, Foreign Sheriff Deposits, Petitions for Court-Ordered Certificate of Title, and other matters traditionally designated as miscellaneous cases. 8) Exhibits, attachments, or other documents that cannot be filed as a .pdf document or exceed 10 megabytes in size. 9) Any document that contains an active hyperlink to material outside the document being filed.

Summary: Electronic filing is prohibited for the listed categories of complaints, judgments, sealed or in-camera documents, immediate-relief motions, miscellaneous matters, oversized or non-PDF documents, and documents containing active external hyperlinks.

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(d) Judge or Magistrate Signatures. Electronic documents may be signed by a judge or magistrate via a digitized image of his or her signature. All documents signed in this manner will have the same effect as if the judge or magistrate had affixed his or her signature to a paper copy of the document and it had been entered on the journal in a conventional manner.

Summary: A judge or magistrate may sign an electronic document with a digitized signature image, which has the same effect as a conventional signature on a paper filing entered on the journal.