Vt. Memo to the Bar, Mar. 30, 2021

SUPREME COURT OF VERMONT

OFFICE OF THE COURT ADMINISTRATOR

PATRICIA GABEL, ESQ. Mailing Address

State Court Administrator Office of the Court Administrator

patricia.gabel@vermont.gov 109 State Street

Montpelier, VT 05609-0701

www.vermontjudiciary.org

TO: Members of the Vermont Bar

FROM: Patricia Gabel, Esq., State Court Administrator

RE: eFiling Fee Update

DATE: March 30, 2021

The Vermont Judiciary is pleased to announce a new “per case” use fee structure for the eFiling

system to replace the previous “per envelope” fee model. This new fee structure is the result of a

collaborative effort and stems from the culmination of last year’s eFiling Fees Study Committee

and continued dialogue with the Vermont Bar Association and Tyler Technologies. Pursuant to

Act 120 (2020), user fees have been paid from funding provided through the Coronavirus Relief

Fund (CRF), which ends on March 31, 2021.

The new per case fee structure will commence on April 1st, 2021.

The new per case fee is $14.00 per party per case. Each case party is required to pay the fee upon

that party’s first filing. Convenience fees remain in place with a 2.89% processing fee for credit

card payments and $1.00 per case for eCheck payments. However, a number of exemptions

remain in place. All criminal filings are automatically exempt from the case fee and for any case

type where there is no court fee, the party filing will not incur the user fee either. For the

following exemptions, parties must still choose a waiver account when filing:

Statutory or rule exemptions

• Government and appointed filers, pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 1433 and 2020 Vermont Rule

of Electronic Filing 10(d)(1)

• Requests for Orders Against Stalking or Sexual Assault, pursuant to 12 V.S.A. § 5133(f)

• Requests for Relief from Abuse, pursuant to 15 V.S.A. § 1103(f)

• Requests for Abuse Prevention for Vulnerable Adult, pursuant to 33 V.S.A § 6933(b)

As applied economic hardship exemptions

• Fee waiver determination, pursuant to 32 V.S.A. § 1431(h) or 32 V.S.A. § 1434(b) in

Probate cases, and

• Fee waiver determination, pursuant to V.R.C.P. 3.1 and V.R.P.P. 3.1

The latest updates and answers to frequently asked questions regarding electronic filing are

available on the Judiciary website at https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermontjudiciary/electronic-access/electronic-filing

We appreciate your continued support of this important change as we continue to be responsive

to the concerns received since the initial launch of eFiling last year. Please feel free to contact me

or your VBA representative with questions that are not answered here or in materials on the

Judiciary website.