CM/ECF Resources » Training » FAQs
Attorney Case Opening FAQs
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- Attorneys or their staff who have been trained either online or in the classroom and have received a login and password.
- Pro se filers (including prisoners) may only file electronically by court order, on a case by case basis.
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- Only active members of the bar of this court and Government attorneys admitted to practice in this court can file cases electronically.
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- Yes. An electronic document is considered filed when it is received by the court's CM/ECF system.
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- Immediately contact the Help Desk at (808) 541-1890 for assistance.
- The Help Desk is available from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
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- Sealed cases must be filed in person over the counter.
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- No. At this time, attorneys may not open their own criminal cases.
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- The filing fee is paid by credit or debit card.
- As you post your complaint, the first of two Pay.gov screens will appear where you will enter your credit card or debit card.
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- You may continue to efile the complaint and accompanying documents through CM/ECF and bypass Pay.gov by answering yes to the questions: Is this filed with an Application to Proceed Without Prepayment of Fees?
- Follow up and make your payment through CM/ECF using the Payment of Fees event, located under Other Documents, when Pay.gov is working.
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- The judge is assigned to your case by the Clerk's Office staff after the case is opened.
- You will receive a Notice of Electronic Filing of the judge assignment when the judge has been assigned to your case.
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- Download and save the summons form from the court’s website. Use this fillable form each time you post a summons to the court docket.
- Post your summons as a separate filing using the Summons (Proposed) event, located under Service of Process.
- Summon(s) will be issued by the court electronically.
- You will receive a Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) of the issued summons when the Clerk's Office enters it on the court's docket.
- Use the NEF (Notice of Electronic Filing) hyperlink to retrieve the issued summons to effect service of process.
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In compliance with Local Rule 100.10.1, all filers must redact:
- Social Security Numbers and Taxpayer Identification Numbers: only the last three digits should be used.
- Names of Minor Children: redact to the initials.
- Dates of Birth: only the year should be used.
- Financial Accounting Information: only the last three digits should be used.
- Home addresses in criminal cases: redact to the city and state.
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- PDF documents should be no more than 10 megabytes (MB).
- This will allow for faster processing of filing and downloading documents.
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- This is not permissible and it could affect the statute of limitations for the filing of the complaint. Complaints must be filed the same day as the case opening. DO NOT attempt to open another case.
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- After completing the filing of your complaint electronically, you may separately efile your Motion for Temporary Restraining Order. Two courtesy copies of the Complaint and Temporary Restraining Order should be immediately rushed to the Clerk’s Office during business hours, or to the overnight filing receptacle after hours or on holidays.
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- Enter only the lead plaintiff and lead defendant listed on the complaint; and the first defendant whom you represent on a notice of removal, if not the lead defendant. The Clerk’s Office will enter the remaining parties listed in the case caption on the complaint.
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- Efile it using the Civil Cover Sheet event, located under Complaints and Other Initiating Documents.
