8th Cir. R. 25A

(a) Electronic Filing. Use of the CM/ECF system is mandatory for all

attorneys, unless they are granted an exemption, and is voluntary for

all pro se litigants proceeding without counsel. Registration is

required to obtain a password and login for use of the electronic filing

system. Attorneys and pro se litigants may register to use the system

through the federal courts’ PACER system. The clerk will maintain

training materials, as well as information about registration and

system requirements on the court’s website. A form to obtain an

exemption is available from the court’s website. Exemptions may be

granted for good cause, and the clerk is authorized to determine when

to grant an exemption and whether to permit a non-exempt attorney to

file a document in paper format.

A filing in electronic format constitutes the official record in the

appeal. Except as otherwise provided in these rules, filers should

not submit paper copies of any document filed through the CM/ECF

system.

Questions concerning the system, attorney registration and attorney

exemptions should be directed to the clerk of court.

(b) Documents That Must Be Filed Electronically:

The following documents must be filed electronically:

* Appearance Forms;

* Corporate Disclosure Statements (FRAP 26.1);

* Applications to Grant or Modify Certificates of Appealability

(FRAP 22b);

* Motions, Responses to Motions and Replies (FRAP 27);

* Record on Appeal Notices (FRAP 30 and 8th Cir. R. 30A);

* Status Reports Required by the Court's Orders;

* Briefs filed by CM/ECF filers (8th Cir. R. 28A)

* Addendums to briefs filed by CM/ECF filers (8th Cir. R. 28A)

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* Citations of Supplemental Authorities [FRAP 28(j)];

* Petitions for Panel Rehearing or Rehearing En Banc (FRAP 35

and 40) and Responses as Requested by the Court;

* Bills of Costs (FRAP 39) and Motions for Attorneys' Fees;

* Correspondence Directed to the Clerk of the Court; and

* Other documents as directed by the Clerk or the Court;

* Criminal Justice Act vouchers and attachments must be submitted

through the court’s eVoucher system.

(c) Documents That May Be Filed Electronically:

* Documents initiating proceedings under Federal Rules of

Appellate Procedure 5, 15, or 21 or petitions for review filed

in the first instance in the court of appeals may be filed

electronically or in paper format.

(d) Documents That Cannot Be Filed Electronically:

* Appendices and other record materials must be filed in

paper format in accordance with the provisions of Federal

Rules of Appellate Procedure 10 and 30 and Eighth Circuit

Rule 30A.

(e) Service: A Certificate of Service is required for all filings, and

filers must comply with the provisions of Federal Rule of Appellate

Procedure 25 and Eighth Circuit Rule 25A when they file

electronically. CM/ECF will generate a Notice of Docket Activity

when any document is filed. This notice represents service of the

document on parties who are registered participants in the CM/ECF

system or who have provided the clerk with their email address. An

attorney's or party's registration for electronic filing constitutes

consent to service through the Notice of Docket Activity. With the

exception of merits briefs as set out in 8th Cir. R. 28A(c) and

appendices as set out in 8 th Cir. R. 30A(b), the filing party is not

required to serve a paper or electronic copy of any electronically -

filed pleading or document on any party receiving electronic notice.

Filing parties must serve paper copies of pleadings or documents on

parties not receiving electronic notices. In such instances, the filing

party must comply with the paper service requirements of Federal

Rule of Appellate Procedure 25. The filing party may determine the

names and addresses of parties not participating in CM/ECF from the

Notice of Docket Activity they receive when they complete a

docketing transaction.

Sample Certificates of Service may be downloaded from the

"Forms" Section of the court's website.

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(f) Completion of the Electronic Appellate Case File: In the event

the clerk receives a document in paper format, the clerk will scan the

document and attach it to the public docket sheet available on

PACER. The clerk will attach an electronic copy of the brief to the

public docket sheet available on PACER. All documents initiating

original proceedings in petitions for review or in cases under FRAP 5,

15, and 21will be scanned and placed on the docket if they were not

filed electronically. Joint and Separate Appendices prepared

pursuant to FRAP 30 and 8th Cir. R. 30A(b) will not be scanned and

attached to the docket sheet. District court original files and

transcripts and administrative agency records used as the record on

appeal will not be scanned and attached to the public docket sheet

available on PACER.

(g) Filing Deadlines and Technical Requirements: Electronic

filing is permitted at all times, except when the system is temporarily

unavailable due to routine or emergency maintenance. An electronic

filing completed at any time before midnight Central Time will be

entered on the docket as of that date. The court's electronic case filing

system determines the date and time a filing is completed. A filing is

timely only if accomplished in accordance with deadlines set by an

applicable order, rule or statute. Should technical failure prevent

timely electronic filing of any document, the filing party may seek

relief from the court.

All electronic versions of the pleadings must be submitted in Portable

Document Format (also known as PDF or Acrobat Format). The digital

version filed with the clerk must be generated by printing to PDF from

the original word processing file so that the text of the digital version

of the pleading may be searched and copied. However, exhibits which

are submitted as attachments to an electronically-filed pleading or the

Addendum may be scanned and attached if the filer does not possess

a word-processing-file version of the attachment. Filers may contact

the clerk's office for directions concerning the submission of scanned

documents.

(h) Sealed Documents: Sealed documents must only be filed in paper

format. Motions for permission to file a document under seal must

also be filed in paper format. The motion should state whether the

filing party believes the motion to seal may be made publically

available on PACER or should remain sealed.

(i) Highly Sensitive Documents: Highly Sensitive Documents are

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certain filings that contain sensitive non-public information likely to

be of interest to the intelligence service of a foreign government that,

if obtained without authorization and improperly released, could cause

harm to the United States, the Federal Judiciary, litigants, and others.

To avoid risk of disclosure if the CM/ECF system were compromised,

Highly Sensitive Documents will not be maintained on the CM/ECF

system, even under seal with restricted access.

Not every document filed under seal should be treated as a Highly

Sensitive Document. For example, documents such as presentence

reports, pleadings related to cooperation in criminal cases, search

warrant applications, social security records, medical records,

documents containing personal or financial information,

administrative immigration records, documents containing

proprietary business information not of interest to a foreign

government, and sealed filings in many civil cases are not likely to

require treatment as Highly Sensitive Documents.

A party may file a motion to classify a document as a Highly Sensitive

Document. The motion must include a statement justifying why the

document should be maintained in paper format only. The proposed

Highly Sensitive Document must be submitted in a sealed envelope

marked “HIGHLY SENSITIVE DOCUMENT.”

If the motion is denied, the clerk will notify the filing party and allow

the filing party 7 days to submit a motion to withdraw the materials. If

the materials are not withdrawn, then they will be filed on the

CM/ECF system as sealed documents.

(j) Privacy: In compliance with the privacy policies of the Judicial

Conference of the United States and in order to address the privacy

concerns created by Internet access to court documents, parties must

refrain from including, or must partially redact where inclusion is

necessary, the following personal data identifiers from all documents

filed with the court:

1. Minors' names (use initials only);

2. Social Security numbers (use last four digits only);

3. Dates of birth (use year of birth only);

4. Financial account numbers (identify the type of account

and institution and provide the last four digits of the account

number); and

5. Home address information (use phrases such as the "4000

block of Elm").

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6. The Addendum to a criminal brief must not include the

Statement of Reasons, the Presentence Report, or other

confidential sentencing materials.

The filer bears sole responsibility for redacting documents.

(k) Social Security and Immigration Cases: Under the privacy

policy of the Judicial Conference of the United States and various

rules and statutory provisions, remote electronic public access to the

CM/ECF file in appeals in Social Security cases and petitions for

review in immigration cases is subject to restrictions. In order to

implement these policies, the clerk will restrict remote electronic

public access to documents in these cases so that only the court's

judges and staff and the parties and attorneys in the case may access

them electronically. No restrictions will be placed on remote electronic

public access to the court's orders and opinions in Social Security and

immigration cases. Any party seeking to restrict public access to

orders and opinions must file a motion explaining why such relief is

required. Non-parties may inspect the court's file in the case at the

clerk's office.

Registered electronic filers in Social Security and immigration cases

must submit their documents through CM/ECF and should comply

with all of the other filing provisions of this rule. When documents

are filed electronically, CM/ECF automatically locks them to restrict

access to the users authorized by this order. Access to any paper

document received by the clerk and scanned for entry in the CM/ECF

electronic case file will be similarly restricted. Filers should note that

they cannot access filings in these cases through their PACER ID and

Password and must access these files through their CM/ECF Filer ID

and Password.

(l) Effect of Failure to Comply with this Rule:

The clerk will contact any non- exempt attorney who submits a

covered document in paper format and will bring the rule to the

attorney’s attention. In the event a non-exempt attorney continues to

submit documents in paper format after receiving notice of the rule, the

clerk is authorized to strike the filings or take other actions deemed

necessary to enforce the rule.

(m) Electronic Noticing. The clerk’s office will use the CM/ECF

system to provide notice to all registered participants in a case. The

clerk will serve a paper copy of the notice on any attorney granted an

exemption and on pro se litigants not registered to use the system.

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(n) Filing by Facsimile. The clerk may establish a program to permit

parties who are not registered to use the CM/ECF system to file

documents by facsimile.