In re Appellate-Motion Electronic Filing

Cite as 2016 Ark. 314
SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
IN RE APPELLATE-MOTION Opinion Delivered September 15, 2016
ELECTRONIC-FILING PILOT
PROJECT AND APPELLATE-BRIEF
ELECTRONIC-FILING PILOT
PROJECT
PER CURIAM
On June 18, 2015, we announced we would implement an electronic filing system
in this court and the court of appeals, and we authorized the establishment of an appellate
motion electronic-filing pilot project “as a first step toward mandatory electronic filing in
the appellate courts.” See In re Appellate Motion Electronic-Filing Pilot Project, 2015 Ark. 282,
at 1 (per curiam). Pursuant to that order, on September 21, 2015, this court and the court
of appeals began accepting motions, petitions, and responses to motions and petitions, via
the eFlex electronic-filing system. That began a one-year period of transition to mandatory
electronic filing, which will end on September 21, 2016. See Ark. Sup. Ct. Admin. Order
No. 21 § 3(b). On that date, the appellate-motions pilot project will be complete, and the
electronic filing of motions, petitions, and responses will be mandatory for such filings that
do not require the payment of any fee and that are not case initiating. We amend sections
(a) and (b) of Rule 2-1 of the Rules of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals to include
the mandatory electronic-filing requirement as set forth below at the end of this order.
Today, the court also authorizes the establishment of an appellate-brief electronic-
filing pilot project as a second step toward comprehensive mandatory electronic filing in the
appellate courts. Upon the Administrative Office of the Courts’ completion of the technical
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changes needed to provide for electronic filing of briefs in the appellate courts, parties will
be permitted to file briefs via the eFlex system. For now, the requirements regarding the
contents of briefs will remain unchanged except that the table of contents for electronic
briefs must include hyperlinks to each section of the brief. Also, electronic briefs must be
internally searchable via optical character recognition (OCR) technology that is included in
Adobe Acrobat.
Attorneys should be aware of the file size limitations of the eFlex system as the system
will not accept files that exceed those limitations. The current file size limit is 10 MB per
file uploaded with an aggregate limit of 30 MB per filing. In other words, an appellate brief
that is 30 MB in size can be divided into three separate 10 MB files and submitted to the
eFlex system as one filing. The Administrative Office of the Courts is currently working to
enlarge the file size limits to better accommodate appellate briefs, and we hope those changes
will be implemented soon.
To reduce the file size of electronic briefs, briefs submitted to the eFlex system in
portable document format (PDF) should be converted to that format directly from the word
processing applications from which they were created, rather than creating the PDF files by
scanning the briefs. If the addendum must be scanned to obtain it in electronic form, it
should be scanned in black and white at a resolution of 300 dots per inch (DPI) to reduce
file size. Files may also be reduced or compressed using Adobe Acrobat or other applications.
Parties electing to file briefs electronically shall be required to file three paper copies
of each brief, and the paper copies will be due five calendar days from the date the electronic
brief is filed. Proof of service of a paper copy on opposing counsel and the trial court must
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be provided to the clerk of this court at the time the paper copies are filed. The paper copies
shall be identical to the original electronic filing. However, the electronic filing system is
not capable of receiving audio or video files. Therefore, the paper copies shall contain any
audio or video exhibits in the record that are pertinent to the issues on appeal even though
the original electronic filing did not include the audio or video exhibits. Criminal appellants
represented by a public defender or appointed counsel who elect to file briefs electronically
shall only be required to file one paper copy with the clerk of this court and may continue
to provide one paper copy to the Attorney General’s office for the production of additional
copies as provided by Supreme Court Rule 4-3(j).
Should there be any irreconcilable discrepancies between Administrative Order
Number 21 and the Rules of the Supreme Court, Administrative Order Number 21 shall
govern with respect to electronic filings until such time as the court amends the Rules to
accommodate electronic filing. Additionally, the clerk of this court is authorized to create
policies and procedures for the implementation of this order and for the use and operation
of the electronic-filing and document-management systems.
We strongly encourage attorneys who practice in the appellate courts and who have
not yet obtained an eFlex account to do so. Attorneys who have not yet acquired an eFlex
account should follow the AOC’s registration requirements available at
https://courts.arkansas.gov/administration/acap/efile to obtain an account.
We amend and republish sections (a) and (b) of Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 2-1
as set out below, and the amendment is to be effective September 21, 2016.
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Rule 2-1. Motions, petitions, and responses, general rules.
(a) Writing required. All motions, petitions, and responses filed in the appellate courts
must be in writing and comply with the requirements of Rule 4-1(a) in regard to the style
of briefs. All motions, petitions, and responses, except for those that require the payment of
any fee or that are case initiating, shall be filed using the electronic filing system provided
by the Administrative Office of the Courts. However, persons proceeding pro se and persons
with disabilities or special needs that prevent electronic filing shall be entitled to submit
conventional paper filings.
(b) Number of copies. No paper copies are required for electronic filings. For
conventional paper filings in the Supreme Court, eight (8) clearly legible copies on 8½ x
11 paper must be provided at the time of filing. For conventional paper filings in the Court
of Appeals, fourteen (14) clearly legible copies on 8½ x 11 paper must be provided at the
time of filing.
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