Doxpop - Tools for Attorneys and Public Information Researchers: Did the fee calculation issue on Tuesday, Sept 4th cause you to miss a filing deadline? Here is what to do.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Did the fee calculation issue on Tuesday, Sept 4th cause you to miss a filing deadline? Here is what to do.


NOTE: This article will be updated as we learn more 

UPDATE as of 2:45pm 9/5:
Message from Indiana Courts:

"We promised an update today regarding the e-filing issue related to the collection of filing fees. Clerks continue to have the ability to accept new cases. This weekend we plan to make a system upgrade."

So our previous instruction still stands that you can continue to file and the clerks have been instructed to process and accept the filings. When the clerk processes the filing to the proper code, the filing fee should update and your MEF page will then reflect the proper amount. 

Note: We previously noted the accepted email will have the correct amount. This was an error and is not the case as this email does not have payment information. Rather you can reveiw your 'My Electronic Filings' page for the correct charged amount. 


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On the morning of Tuesday, September 4th while working on a customer call Doxpop noticed that new case filings in e-file were calculating fees at $0 which is not correct. We quickly worked to verify this was an issue affecting all e-filers regardless of their service provider and then notified the appropriate contacts with the e-file manager and the state trial court helpdesk. 

Not too long after that, the state did send the following message:

"E-filing is currently experiencing intermittent issues related to the collection of filing fees. As a result, new cases may be rejected by the clerk. We are working with Tyler Technologies to correct this issue. We will provide an update. If problems prevent filing, refer to Trial Rule 86(N)."

We will note based on customer reports this may be affecting fee collection on the clerk's side for filings that were done in past days as well. 

As a result of this message we felt it was important to once again communicate our guidance for handling time-sensitive filings during an e-file "outage" under Trial Rule 86(N).

If you missed a deadline due to this issue, take a look at Trial Rule 86(N)(1), which essentially provides for a one-day extension when a lengthy e-filing system outage prevents filers from meeting a deadline.

We expect that the Trial Courts will all be aware of the scope and timing of this statewide outage via direct communication from Trial Court Technology. However, if the court you are working with requires a statement from Doxpop to attach as an exhibit to the motion described in TR 86(N)(1)(d), please let us know and we'll be happy to supply documentation in support of your motion. (Simply attaching a screen print of this blog post may be sufficient.)

On the appellate side, take a look at Rule 68(M)(1)(d), which appears to be nearly identical to the Trial Court rule on this topic.

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