Chester Cnty. C.P. Court of Common Pleas Local Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 576.1

(A) General Scope and Purpose of the Rule

Pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 576.1, Electronic Filing and Service of

Legal Papers, electronic filing of legal papers through the PACFile electronic filing system is

permissive in Chester County, the 15th Judicial District, as of March 4, 2019. The

Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts and the judicial district of Chester County have

agreed upon an implementation plan for PACFile in Chester County.

(B) PACFile

(1) The exclusive system for electronic filing is the PACFile System, developed and

administered by the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts and located on

Pennsylvania’s Unified Judicial System Web Portal at https://ujsportal.pacourts.us

/PACFile.aspx.

(2) Pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 576.1(D)(2), establishment of a PACFile account constitutes

consent to participate in electronic filing, including acceptance of service electronically of any

document filed on the PACFile system in any judicial district that permits electronic filing.

(3) At this time, electronic filing through the PACFile System is voluntary. Any party who

declines to participate in the PACFile electronic filing system, or who is unable to electronically

file or accept service of legal papers which were filed electronically, or who is otherwise unable

to access the PACFile system, shall be permitted to file legal papers in a physical paper format

(‘hard-copy’) and shall be served legal papers in a physical paper format by the Clerk of Courts

and other parties, whether electronically filed or otherwise, as required by Pa.R.Crim.P. 576.

(C) Legal Papers

(1) “Legal papers” are pleadings or other submissions to the court, including motions,

answers, notices, or other documents, of which filing is required or permitted, including orders,

exhibits and attachments, but excluding:

(a) applications for search warrants;

(b) applications for arrest warrants;

(c) any grand jury materials, except the indicting grand jury indictment or the investigating

grand jury presentment;

(d) submissions filed ex parte as authorized by law; and

(e) submissions filed or authorized to be filed under seal.

(2) The applicable rules of criminal procedure, general rules of court, and court policies

that implement the rules shall continue to apply to all filings of legal papers regardless of the

method of filing.

(3) Any legal paper submitted for filing to the Clerk of Courts in a physical paper (or ‘hard-copy’) format shall be accepted by the Clerk of Courts in that format and shall be retained by

the Clerk of Courts as may be required by applicable rules of court and record retention policies.

The Clerk of Courts shall convert such hard-copy legal paper to .pdf and add it to the system,

except those legal papers excluded from electronic filing pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 576.1(C)

and this rule.

(D) Filing Fees

Applicable filing fees shall be paid through procedures established by the Clerk of Courts and

at the same time and in the same amount as required by statute, Court rule or order, or published

fee schedule.

(E) Record on Appeal

Electronically filed legal papers, and copies of legal papers filed in a paper format as provided

in subsection (C)(3), shall become the record on appeal.

(F) Confidential Information

Counsel and unrepresented parties must adhere to the Public Access Policy of the Unified

Judicial System of Pennsylvania and refrain from including confidential information in legal

papers filed with the Clerk of Courts or the Court whether filed electronically or in a paper

format.