The United States District Court for the District of Kansas (the Court) and the Kansas Department of Corrections have agreed to participate in a person electronic filing (e-filing) pilot project at the Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF) for a period of one year. The pilot project is expected to reduce the costs of court filings by prisoners in civil cases by reducing associated expenses for paper, envelopes, copying, and postage for prison litigants and time for both LCF staff and court staff in processing these pleadings. This Standing Order will set forth the rules for managing such pleadings during the pilot project.

In consideration of the foregoing,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

  1. Participation in the e-filing pilot project is limited to prisoners incarcerated at the LCF who are filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. A prisoner who is transferred to any other facility will resume the submission of pleadings by mail.
  2. Participation in the pilot project is mandatory for all prisoner litigants at the LCF, and all correspondence and court filings in civil cases in the District of kansas must be electronically transmitted.
  3. The management of pleadings in the pilot project will proceed as follows:

    a. Prisoner litigants at the LCF will scan pleadings in civil actions on a digital sender. One digital sender will be provided by the Court for use at the LCF.

    b. Once the document has been scanned, the prisoner will e-mail the pleading to the Court at ksd_clerks_topeka@ksd.uscourts.gov.

    c. The Court will e-file these pleadings upon receipt by e-mail.

    d. Upon filing, the Court will create a Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF), which will confirm the date the pleading was e-filed by the court and contain an electronic link to the document.

    e. A party may not electronically serve a complaint, but instead must effect service according to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4. Once defendants or respondent have accepted such service, however, the NEF for a subsequent prisoner pleading shall constitute service of the document by first class mail, postage prepaid.

    f. The NEF will be transmitted to court_filing@lcf.doc.ks.gov and will be distributed through institutional channels to the inmate.

    g. Documents filed by defendants or respondents will continue to be mailed by those parties, and orders entered by the court will be transmitted by mail.

    h. The electronic transmission of correspondence and court filings is free to prisoners, however, statutory filing fees apply to these actions and are not affected by e-filing.

    i. Prisoner participants in the e-filing pilot project remain subject to the provisions of D. Kan. Rule 9.1. Initial court filings, such as petitions and complaints, submitted by these participants must be transmitted on official forms, and all court filings must contain the prisoners conviction name and KDOC identification number, the name of the opposing party, the case number, if one has been assigned, and signature. The failure to provide this information may result in delay in processing of the incomplete submission. Complete copies of the rules of the Court are available for review in the law library.

    j. Questions regarding filing by prisoners who are in segregated housing should be directed to the faciliy librarian.

  4. The Clerk of the Court is authorized to develop, implement, publish, and modify as necessary additional administrative procedures to manage the e-filing pilot project.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Standing Order shall become effective January 1, 2012, and shall remain in effect for one year, subject to extension upon the agreement of the parties.

IT IS SO ORDERED

Dated this 15th day of December, 2011.