Possibly Coming Soon to a Texas Criminal Trial Court Clerk Near You- E-filing in Criminal Cases!

Originally published by Bob Mabry.

Rules governing electronic filing in Texas criminal cases have been finally approved. A clerk may implement criminal case electronic filing in that clerk’s office when that clerk has the written consent of a majority of the judges in the county who have jurisdiction in criminal cases and who are served by that clerk. Appellate courts generally require e-filing for documents filed by attorneys in criminal matters, so these new rules apply to trial courts. Under these rules, e-filing may not be the exclusive manner of filing documents; paper filing must still be allowed (i.e. the kind of filing done presently). Charging instruments cannot be e-filed; they must be paper-filed. Otherwise, the e-filing is similar to that in civil cases, viz. no in camera material, no material under seal or proposed to be under seal, no sensitive information.
New rule 1.04(b) does not appear to be harmonized with Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Annotated section 132.001 (West Supp. 2015). It appears to me that a statute trumps a supreme court administrative rule.

Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.

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