Opinion
No. 06-13-00135-CV
01-14-2014
IN THE INTEREST OF A.W. AND J.W., CHILDREN
On Appeal from the 115th District Court
Upshur County, Texas
Trial Court No. 633-12
Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ.
ORDER
The Upshur County District Clerk has filed a motion requesting permission to file the clerk's record in this case on paper rather than electronically. The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure were amended, effective January 1, 2014, requiring all records filed with appellate courts after that date to be filed electronically. Appendix C governs the preparation of clerk's records. It states that "[u]nless the clerk receives permission from the appellate court to file the record in paper form, the clerk must file the record electronically." TEX. R. APP. P. app. C, Rule 1.2.
We point out that records received on paper by this Court must be immediately scanned by this Court's personnel prior to filing. Thus, a district clerk's failure to follow the Rules, which are applicable statewide, creates an additional workload for the staff of this Court.
Accordingly, the records to be filed in appeals brought to this Court are required to be filed electronically. We understand that some equipment—a computer, a scanner, software (Adobe Acrobat), and internet access—will be necessary to implement these requirements. The Office of Court Administration is available to assist trial-level clerk's offices with transitioning from paper to electronic filing. To obtain this assistance, contact Casey Kennedy at casey.kennedy@txcourts.gov or (512)463-1603, who can provide information about the easiest and least expensive way to set up a compliant system.
We had anticipated that Upshur County and all of the counties within the Sixth Appellate District would be capable of electronic filing beginning January 2, 2014. We expect that all of the counties within our district will begin electronic filing as soon as possible, but we also expect that in no more than six months from now the Upshur County District Clerk's Office will fully complete this evolution and begin efiling all records with this Court.
The motion to file a paper clerk's record in this specific case is granted.
BY THE COURT