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

Applies to

Civil complaint

When a complaint is filed, the Clerk must accept the civil case electronically and assign a judge through random selection; the judge’s name will be stamped on electronically submitted documents.

At the time of filing a complaint, the Clerk shall, through its electronic filing system, accept for filing all civil cases and cause an assignment of judge by the electronic random selection process. The assigned judge’s name will be stamped on all documents submitted through the electronic filing system.

A party unable to file electronically must request an electronic-filing exemption, state the reason, and obtain approval from the duty or assigned judge.

A party who cannot file their cause electronically must file a request to be exempt from electronic filing and must state the reason for the requested exemption. The request must be approved by the duty judge or judge of assignment.

Applies to

Written deposition transcript

Written deposition transcripts intended for trial, hearing, or motion support, including attachments and exhibits, must be electronically filed by the attorney of record.

All written deposition transcripts that are to be used in trial or hearing or in support of any motion, including attachments and/or exhibits, shall be electronically filed by the attorney of record through the Clerk’s electronic filing system.

Applies to

Pleading

Pleadings and papers in general civil and criminal cases must be filed electronically via the Internet, while electronic filing is permitted for other civil cases, subject to the rule’s exceptions.

Except as provided in this rule, in conformity with Ohio Revised Code, Civ.R. 5(E) and Crim.R. 12(B), pleadings and other papers in all general civil cases and criminal cases shall be filed with the Clerk of Courts electronically via the Internet. Pleadings and other papers in other civil cases may be filed with the Clerk of Courts electronically via the Internet.

Vexatious litigators cannot use electronic filing and may file only in paper format after obtaining permission from the assigned judge.

Individuals who have been declared vexatious litigators, as defined below, will not be permitted to file documents electronically. The e-filing System will not provide an individual who has been declared a vexatious litigator with a user id and password to access the system. A vexatious litigator may only file in paper format, provided he/she has first obtained permission from the assigned Judge to file in that case.

Unregistered pro se parties may file paper documents in person or by U.S. Mail, and those documents become official court records when the Clerk accepts them into the eFile system.

Pro se parties who are not registered users of the Court’s eFile system may file documents in paper form with the Clerk in person or by U.S. Mail. Documents filed in accordance with this Rule shall be deemed filed and shall become the Court’s Official Court Record when they are accepted by the Clerk in the Court’s eFile system.

Applies to

CQE petition

A petitioner must first submit a CQE petition to ODRC and may file it with the Summit County Clerk only after ODRC has reviewed it and found it complete.

All petitions for Certificates for Qualification for employment (“CQE”) must be filed first time with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (“ODRC”). Once ODRC has determined the content of a petition to be complete, it will then electronically forward notice of its review of the completeness of the petition to the Summit County Clerk of Courts. ODRC will also provide the petitioner with a paper copy of the ODRC-reviewed petition, bearing notice thereon that the petition has been reviewed and found to be complete. Upon receipt of this notice from the ODRC, the petitioner must then file the petition with the Clerk of Courts.

Applies to

Exhibit

Exhibits, attachments, and other documents not comprehensibly viewable as PDFs must be filed physically with the Clerk.

Exhibits, attachments, or other documents that may not be comprehensibly viewed in a .pdf shall be filed in their physical form with the Clerk.