Does the attorney have to send in paper follow up?

The Supreme Court gave approval for E-Filing in Polk County and discontinued the requirement for paper follow up by attorneys unless required by law. On occasion, the court requires the filing of original documents as contained in the following cited authorities. If you wish to file a copy of such a document electronically as well as manually filing the original hard copy, our office will accept both. Resources for the Florida Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access to the Courts are available on its website.

  • Florida Supreme Court Standards for Electronic Access to the Courts, Version 8 (Adopted June 2009, Adopted Modifications January 2013, page 16):
    "5.3. Original Documents or Handwritten Signatures. Original documents, such as death certificates, or those that contain original signatures such as affidavits, deeds, mortgages, and wills must be filed manually until further standards have been adopted."
  • SC11-399, In reference: Amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Florida Probate Rules, the Florida Small Claims Rules, the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, and the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure- Electronic Filing, Revised opinion, 10/18/12.
  • Florida. R. Crim. P. 3.030(c)
    Deposit with the Clerk. Any paper document that is a judgment and sentence or required by statute or rule to be sworn to or notarized shall be filed and deposited with the clerk immediately thereafter. The clerk shall maintain deposited original paper documents in accordance with Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.430, unless otherwise ordered by the court."
  • Florida. Prob. R. 5.043
    "Notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, and unless the court orders otherwise, any original executed will or codicil deposited with the court must be retained by the clerk in its original form and must not be destroyed or disposed of by the clerk for 20 years after submission regardless of whether the will or codicil has been permanently recorded as defined by Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.430."

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1. Can I E-File a summons or similar document requiring the Clerk to issue? (i.e. Writ of Garnishment, Writ of Replevin, Notice of Action, Subpoena, Default, etc.)
2. Can I E-File Proposed Orders for the judge to review and sign?
3. Can service requests such as copy work, certified copies, or a record search be E-Filed?
4. Does the attorney have to send in paper follow up?
5. What is the procedure for E-Filing documents that may contain confidential information?
6. Should I electronically submit the Certificate of Sale and Certificate of Title through the E-Portal?
7. What should I do if I receive a "Case Number provided can't be verified" error message?
8. For returns of service, does the summons (or other originals) need to be included or just mentioned in the Return of Service Affidavit?
9. How do we handle the return of service back to the party who requested service?
10. Will court reporters still need to provide a paper transcript for appeals and depositions?
11. How should the "Read and Sign" deposition transcripts be filed?
12. If mental health related paperwork must be filed within 72 hours, do we use the emergency checkbox?
13. If a filing is due for a court appearance the next business day, do we file it in court, E-File it, or both?
14. Do I need to file documents not related to the case file, such as an invoice?
15. If we have 35 returns of service, do we have to file these individually?
16. Can HIPPA documents be E-Filed without the data being redacted?