Opinion
2012-01
04-08-2020
IN RE ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF NDOC PRISONER DOCUMENTS
FOURTH AMENDED GENERAL ORDER
MIRANDA M. DU CHIEF JUDGE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEVADA
Since February 19, 2013, the United States District Court for the District of Nevada (“Court”), the Nevada Department of Corrections (“NDOC”), and the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Nevada have participated in an electronic filing project designed to reduce the cost of processing filings from incarcerated people in cases filed pursuani to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 under General Order No. 2012-01. This order makes that electronic filing process mandatory. The terms of the e-filing project are described below.
1. Electronic filing of filings by incarcerated people in civil rights cases was implemented at Northern Nevada Correctional Center (“NNCC") in 2013, a1 Lovelock Correctional Center (“LCC”) in 2015, and on April 1,2020 at both Ely State Prison (“ESP”) and High Desert State Prison (“HDSP”).
2. All filings by incarcerated people in NDOC's custody in all federal cases before this Court, including civil rights and habeas corpus cases, must be filed electronically beginning no later than January 1,2022, excluding filings from rural NDOC camps.
3. NDOC will be provided with free Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”) accounts for use by the law librarians who become registered users.
4. NDOC will scan to PDF and transmit electronically to the Court al documents presented by incarcerated people for filing with the Court. The original documents will be returned to the incarcerated person. Al documents submitted for filing by incarcerated people in NDOC facilities wil be emailed to the Court in PDF format and in accordance with NDOC procedures therefor.
5. The Court will receive and file the incarcerated peoples' documents electronically. After traditional service of the incarcerated person's complaint and appearance by an opposing party, electronic transmission o the filed document to opposing parties who are registered users of the Court's electronic filing system constitutes service of the hyperlinkec document for purposes of Rule 5(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Civi Procedure. The incarcerated person must mail a copy of their electronically filed documents to non-registered users.
6. Each NDOC facility, excluding rural NDOC camps, will establish an emai address for receipt of electronically-filed documents. NDOC staff will prin the electronic transmission receipt, the hyperlinked order, and othei documents filed by the Court. Receipt of copies of the receipt anc hyperlinked documents by the incarcerated person constitutes service o the document on the incarcerated person. If the incarcerated person refuses delivery or is no longer at a particular NDOC facility, NDOC will indicate the reason for non-delivery on the transmission receipt and email it to the Court.
7. Opposing parties who are registered users of the Court's electronic filing system will serve filings on NDOC prisoners through the Court's electronic filing system. NDOC staff will print and provide to incarcerated people both the electronic receipts and the hyperlinked documents filed by opposing parties.
The Court has evaluated the e-filing project and determines it should be continued permanently at all NDOC facilities, excluding rural NDOC camps. It is therefore ordered that the e-filing project as outlined above is now mandatory at NDOC facilities thal have already implemented it, and will become mandatory at other NDOC facilities on the schedule stated above.