S.D. Iowa LR 5

a. Certificate of Service. Where a certificate of service is required by Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 5(d)(1) or Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49(b)(1), the certificate must be filed

promptly, and in any event, before any action is to be taken by the court or a party on any

request made in the document being served. The certificate of service must show the time and

manner of service and also must include one of the following:

1. A written acknowledgment of service by the party served;

2. A certification of service by a pro se party, or by a member of the bar of the court or his

or her employee; or

3. A written declaration, subscribed under penalty of perjury pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746,

attesting to service by the person who served the documents.

The certificate of service may be included on the last page of the document being served.

b. Facsimile Delivery of Documents to the Clerk of Court. No document may be sent to the

Clerk of Court for filing via facsimile transmission unless express prior authorization to do so

has been obtained from a representative of the Clerk of Court or from the court. A request for

such authorization should be made only in an emergency situation.

Any document sent to the Clerk of Court for filing via facsimile transmission must be

accompanied by a facsimile cover page which includes the following:

1. The date of the transmission;

2. The name, facsimile number, and telephone number of the person to whom the document

is being transmitted;

3. The name, facsimile number, and telephone number of the person transmitting the

document;

4. The case number and title of the case in which the document is to be filed;

5. The name of the document;

6. The number of pages being transmitted, including the cover page; and

7. The name of the representative of the Clerk of Court or the federal judge who authorized

the sending of the document via facsimile trans- mission.

After a party has sent a document to the Clerk of Court for filing via facsimile transmission,

the Clerk of Court will electronically file the document. The filing party must serve a copy of

the document on all parties who are not participants in the ECF system. (See LR 5A(k)(2)).

c. Filing Sealed Documents. Unless otherwise authorized by these rules, the ECF Procedures

Manual, or a statute of the United States, a party seeking to file documents under seal first must

file a motion requesting leave to do so. The documents sought to be filed under seal must not

be attached to the motion or they will become part of the public case file. Instead, the

documents must be described in the motion with sufficient particularity to enable the court to

rule on the motion without reviewing the documents.

1. If an order is entered granting a motion to file documents under seal or directing a party to

file documents under seal, then the parties thereafter must, without obtaining a further order

from the court, docket and electronically file under seal all documents covered by the order.

The parties also must file under seal all documents referring to or disclosing confidential

information in the sealed documents.

2. Certain categories of documents, because of their nature, are sealed by the ECF system

without a motion by a party or an order of the court. Most of these “system-sealed” filings

are in criminal cases. (A current list of system-sealed filings is available on the courts’

websites). A party filing such a document must not file a motion for leave to file the

document under seal, but must file the document under seal directly through the ECF

system.

3. Generally, a document filed under seal is electronically accessible only to the court and

counsel of record. Some documents filed under seal in criminal cases are electronically

accessible only to the court.

4. A document filed electronically under seal must include at the beginning of the document

the caption of the case and the notation “FILED UNDER SEAL.” A paper document

submitted to the court for filing under seal must be delivered to the Clerk of Court in a

sealed envelope marked with the caption of the case and the notation “FILED UNDER

SEAL.” If these requirements are not met, documents intended to be filed under seal could

be filed in the public case file inadvertently.

d. In Camera Documents. Documents submitted to a judge for an in camera inspection must not

be filed electronically, but must be delivered in paper form to the judge’s chambers in a sealed

envelope bearing the caption of the case, the name of the party presenting the documents, and

a statement that the documents are being submitted for an in camera review.