Hopkins County District Courts Electronic Filing Rules

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

Electronic filing became mandatory for civil cases in Hopkins County effective January 1, 2016.

E-filing became mandatory in civil cases in Hopkins County on January 1, 2016.

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

Applies to

Pleadings

Attorneys must e-file all pleadings unless the judge grants a good-cause exception.

Attorneys must e-file all pleadings, unless the judge grants an exception for good cause.

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

Applies to

Original will

An original will must not be e-filed.

Original wills are not to be e-filed.

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

Documents under seal, intended for private in-camera review, or restricted by law or court order may not be e-filed.

Litigants are not to e-file documents which are under seal, documents which are to be reviewed privately by the judge in camera, or documents which are restricted by law or court order.

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

Documents e-filed by the judge must be text-searchable PDFs with reasonably clear text.

If the judge e-files a document, they will ensure that it is in Portable Document Format (PDF) with a text-searchable feature and that the text is reasonably clear.

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

A pro se litigant may e-file non-order legal documents but may instead file them in person with the clerk; bench filing is prohibited absent a good-cause exception.

For any legal document which is not a proposed order, for example a petition for divorce, a pro se litigant is encouraged to e-file it but is not required to. If the pro se litigant does not e-file the document, it must be filed in person at the appropriate clerk's office and it may not be filed with the judge at the bench, unless the judge grants an exception for good cause.

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

Applies to

Proposed order

A pro se litigant may e-file a proposed order or present a paper original to the judge, after which the judge may use the paper order as the original or e-file it as the original.

A pro se litigant is encouraged to e-file their proposed order(s) but is not required to. A pro se litigant also has the option of presenting the paper original proposed order to the judge at the bench. If a pro se litigant presents a proposed order to the judge, for example a proposed final decree of divorce, and if the judge signs the order, the judge may either (1) bench-mark, sign, and date the signed order and retain it until it can be transferred to the appropriate clerk's office or (2) e-file it. If the judge follows the ===== PAGE 2 ===== procedure under (1), the paper filing is the original and copies may be made at the judge's discretion. If the judge follows the procedure under (2), the e-filed order becomes the original, the judge will ensure that the paper document is destroyed, and the parties will be instructed to contact the appropriate clerk's office for copies of the order.

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

Applies to

Proposed order

Attorneys may e-file a proposed order or present it in paper form to the judge, who may then use the paper order or its e-filed version as the original.

Attorneys are encouraged to e-file proposed orders, but are not required to. If an attorney presents a proposed order to the judge in paper form, and if the judge signs the order, the judge may either (1) bench-mark, sign, and date the signed order and retain it until it can be transferred to the appropriate clerk's office or (2) e-file it. If the judge follows the procedure under (1), the paper filing is the original and copies may be made at the judge's discretion. If the judge follows the procedure under (2), the e-filed order becomes the original, the judge will ensure that the paper document is destroyed, and the parties will be instructed to contact the appropriate clerk's office for copies of the order.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

The judge has the discretion to grant an exception to the e-filing requirements for good cause, such as in an emergency.

Summary: The judge may grant a good-cause exception to the e-filing requirements, including in an emergency.

Not confirmed. Read the court's wording below.WARNING?

An exception may be made by the judge if an emergency filing is presented to the judge outside of normal business hours and the appropriate clerk's office is not open.

Summary: The judge may permit an emergency filing outside normal business hours when the appropriate clerk's office is closed.