Local Rule TMCGR 30 – Electronic Filing & Service

TACOMA MUNICIPAL COURT
TMCGR 30
ELECTRONIC FILING AND SERVICE

(a) Electronic filing (“eFile”) authorization, charges, exceptions, waiver and non-compliance.

(1) Mandatory Electronic Filing. Effective 30 days after go live as directed by the court, attorneys shall electronically file (eFile) all documents using the court’s designated eFiling service, eFile & Serve, unless this rule provides otherwise. Non-attorneys or pro se parties are not required to eFile, but are encouraged to do so.
(a) Tacoma Municipal Court office hours are 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday excluding holidays. Any electronic filing received after 4:30 PM will automatically be date stamped for 8:00 AM the next business day.

(2) Documents That Shall Not Be eFiled. The following documents must be filed in paper form rather than eFiled:
(a) A criminal case initiation document (e.g., complaint, citation, or noticeof infraction) that is not submitted through the Statewide Electronic Collision & Traffic Online Records (SECTOR) application per GR 30 (d) (11):
(b) A document that is required by law to be filed in non-electronic format, for example, original wills, certified records of proceedings for purposes of appeal, negotiable instruments, and documents of foreign governments under official seal;
(c) Documents incapable of legible conversion to an electronic format by scanning, imaging, or any other means;
(d) Documents larger than permitted in the User Agreement.

(3) Working Copies. Attorneys and other eFilers are not required to provide duplicate paper pleadings as “working copies” for judicial officers.

(4) Waiver of the Requirement to eFiler for attorneys.
(a) If an attorney is unable to eFile documents required by this rule, the attorney may request a waiver from the court. The attorney must make a showing of good cause and explain why paper document(s) must be filed in that particular case. The court will consider each application and provide a written approval or denial to the attorney. Attorneys who receive a waiver shall file a copy of the waiver in each case in which they file documents. Attorneys who receive a waiver shall place the words “Exempt from Filing per waiver filed on (date)” in the caption of all paper documents filed for the duration of the waiver.
(b) Upon a showing of good cause the court may waive the requirement as to a specific document or documents on a case by case basis.

(5) Non-Compliance with this Rule. If an attorney files a document in paper form and does not have an approved waiver from eFiling, the court may assess a fee against the attorney litigant for each paper document filed.

(b) Electronic Service. If a party serves another party electronically or via email, that party must likewise accept service from the other parties electronically or via email.

[Adopted effective 11/2/20221