UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
www.okwd.uscourts.gov
ELECTRONIC FILING
POLICIES & PROCEDURES MANUAL
Cite as: ECF Policies & Procedures Manual, § ___.
Revised July 2025
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
www.okwd.uscourts.gov
ELECTRONIC FILING
POLICIES & PROCEDURES MANUAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1
I. ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM .............................................................................. 1
A. GENERAL POLICY. ....................................................................................................... 1
1. Pro se Litigants. .................................................................................................. 1
2. Conventional Filing. ........................................................................................... 1
3. Modifications and Amendments of Court’s ECF System Procedures. .............. 1
B. REGISTRATION. ............................................................................................................ 2
1. Who May Register. ............................................................................................. 2
2. How to Register. ................................................................................................. 2
3. E-mail Address. .................................................................................................. 2
4. Changes of E-Mail Address. ............................................................................... 3
C. USER NAMES AND PASSWORDS. ............................................................................. 3
1. Responsibility. .................................................................................................... 3
2. Security. .............................................................................................................. 3
II. ELECTRONIC FILING AND SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS ................................. 4
A. FILING. ............................................................................................................................ 4
1. General Rules. .................................................................................................... 4
2. Initiating Documents in Civil Cases. .................................................................. 6
3. Filing Fees. ......................................................................................................... 7
4. Exhibits, Attachments, and Appendices. ............................................................ 8
5. Courtesy Copies. ................................................................................................. 9
B. SERVICE. ...................................................................................................................... 10
1. Service Through the ECF System. ................................................................... 10
2. Service by Conventional Means. ...................................................................... 10
3. Certificate of Service. ....................................................................................... 11
C. SIGNATURES. .............................................................................................................. 11
1. Attorney Signature. ........................................................................................... 11
2. Multiple Signatures........................................................................................... 12
3. Non-Attorney Signature. .................................................................................. 13
4. Signature Disputes. ........................................................................................... 14
D. TITLE OF DOCKET ENTRIES. ................................................................................... 14
E. FILING ERRORS. ......................................................................................................... 15
1. Changes after Submission. ............................................................................... 15
2. Notification of Mistakes. .................................................................................. 15
3. Personal Identifiers. .......................................................................................... 15
F. TECHNICAL FAILURES. ............................................................................................ 16
1. Court’s ECF System. ........................................................................................ 16
2. Filer’s System. .................................................................................................. 16
G. ORDERS AND PROPOSED PAPERS. ........................................................................ 17
1. Orders Initiated by the Court. ........................................................................... 17
2. Proposed Papers Submitted by the Parties. ...................................................... 17
3. Writ, Warrant, or Summons. ............................................................................ 19
4. Default Judgment. ............................................................................................. 19
H. PRIVACY. ..................................................................................................................... 20
1. Documents to be Filed Under Seal. .................................................................. 20
2. Redacted Documents. ....................................................................................... 20
3. Unredacted Documents..................................................................................... 21
4. Responsibility to Redact. .................................................................................. 22
I. PRO SE LITIGANTS. .................................................................................................... 22
J. SOCIAL SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION CASES. ................................................ 22
K. PETITIONS FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS ........................................................ 23
III. PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE ECF SYSTEM ............................................................. 23
A. PUBLIC ACCESS AT THE COURT. ........................................................................... 23
B. REMOTE ACCESS. ...................................................................................................... 23
1. PACER. ............................................................................................................ 23
2. Public Access to Criminal Case Records. ........................................................ 24
3. Sealed and Restricted Documents. ................................................................... 24
C. CONVENTIONAL COPIES AND CERTIFIED COPIES. ........................................... 25
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IV. GLOSSARY OF TERMS. ........................................................................................... 25
V. HOW TO FLATTEN A .PDF FILE........................................................................... 27
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INTRODUCTION
It is the policy of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma to
require attorneys and other permitted registrants to file papers with the Court electronically,
except as may be stated herein. Docket sheets and most documents may be viewed
electronically through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”) system,
regardless of participation in the Electronic Case Filing (“ECF”) System. The following
Policies and Procedures govern electronic filing in this District unless, due to
circumstances in a particular case, the assigned Judge determines that these procedures
should be modified.
I. ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM
A. GENERAL POLICY.
With limited exceptions, all papers submitted for filing in this Court in civil
and criminal cases shall be filed electronically using the Court’s ECF
System.
1. Pro Se Litigants. Litigants proceeding pro se (without attorney
representation) may not file electronically. See § II.I.
2. Conventional Filing. For good cause shown, an attorney may apply
to the assigned Judge for permission to file documents conventionally.
Even if permission to file papers conventionally is granted, that
permission may be withdrawn at any time.
3. Modifications and Amendments of Court’s ECF System
Procedures. The assigned Judge may modify these procedures in
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specific cases without prior notice, if deemed appropriate. The Court
may also amend these procedures at any time without prior notice.
Modifications and amendments to ECF System Policies and
Procedures will be posted on the Court’s website at
www.okwd.uscourts.gov.
B. REGISTRATION.
Only those persons registered with the Court’s ECF System will be able to
file papers electronically with the Court.
1. Who May Register. Only attorneys who are admitted to practice in
the Western District of Oklahoma or others authorized by the Court
(e.g., receivers, mediators, those admitted pro hac vice, United States
Probation Officers, United States Deputy Marshals) may register for
access to the Court’s ECF System.
2. How to Register. To register for an account on the Court’s ECF
System, you must have an upgraded, individual account with the
PACER system and must follow the instructions at:
https://www.okwd.uscourts.gov/ecf.
3. E-mail Address. The registrant’s e-mail address will be the address
used for service, and transmission through the ECF System to that
address of a Notice of Electronic Filing (“NEF”) will constitute
service. The registrant may also provide additional e-mail addresses
to which courtesy copies of ECF notices will be sent.
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4. Changes of E-Mail Address. The registrant is responsible for
updates to all e-mail addresses associated with the registrant’s
account. To update information, log in to the “Manage Your
Account” tab on PACER https://pacer.uscourts.gov/. Any change to
the registrant’s primary e-mail address will also require compliance
with LCvR5.4 and LCrR49.4.
C. USER NAMES AND PASSWORDS.
The combination of the registrant’s user name and password serves as the
registrant’s official signature for purposes of the Federal Rules of Civil and
Criminal Procedure and any applicable statute or regulation of the United
States.
1. Responsibility. Once registered, the registrant is responsible and
accountable for all documents filed using that user name and
password.
2. Security. No registrant shall permit the user name and password to
be utilized by anyone other than persons specifically authorized by the
registrant. If a password is believed to be compromised, the registrant
must notify the Clerk’s Office during normal office hours by
telephone at 1-405-609-5555 or toll free at 1-888-609-6593 or by e-
mail at
[email protected] and must change the password
immediately using PACER’S “Manage Your Account” tab.
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II. ELECTRONIC FILING AND SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS
A. FILING.
1. General Rules.
a. The official Court record shall be the electronic file maintained
by the Clerk and any documents or exhibits filed
conventionally.
b. Electronically filed documents must meet the requirements of
the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure and this
Court’s Local Rules. To electronically file a document, it must
be in .pdf format, which can be created either by scanning the
document or printing it to .pdf format. Electronically filed
documents must also be text-searchable and flattened. For
information on how to flatten a document, see § V.
c. Conventionally Submitted Documents to be e-filed by
Court staff.
There are certain documents in civil and criminal cases that
shall be conventionally submitted. Court staff will file these
documents on the ECF System. These documents are:
i. Indictments;
ii. Pleadings and other papers submitted for filing by pro
se litigants.
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d. Documents to be e-filed by the Court staff.
There are certain documents in criminal cases that will be
provided to the Court electronically, e.g. criminal complaints
and informations. Court staff will file these documents on the
ECF System.
e. Documents that counsel may file conventionally. Leave of
Court is not required for counsel to conventionally file any
document listed below; however, counsel must electronically
file a Notice of Conventional Filing. A model form is on the
Court’s website at http://www.okwd.uscourts.gov/forms.
i. Administrative records and transcripts, except the
administrative record in Social Security cases;
ii. Documents larger than 50 megabytes when converted to
.pdf format that cannot be separated into less than 50-
megabyte segments;
iii. Emergency matters at the discretion of the Clerk.
f. E-mailing a document to the Clerk or to the assigned Judge
shall not constitute filing of the document. An electronically
filed document shall not be considered filed for purposes of the
Federal Rules of Civil or Criminal Procedure until an ECF
System-generated NEF is transmitted to the filer.
g. ECF registrants may file papers 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. Filing a paper electronically does not, however, alter the
filing deadline for that paper. If the assigned Judge has ordered
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the document to be filed by a time certain, it must be filed by
that time. Otherwise, a filing must be completed before
midnight Central time on the date it is due (excluding
weekends, holidays, and days when the Clerk’s Office is
inaccessible) to be considered timely filed.
2. Initiating Documents in Civil Cases.
a. All Initiating Documents (e.g., complaints, notices of removal,
state court filings in removal cases, applications to proceed in
forma pauperis, miscellaneous proceedings, summonses, and
civil cover sheets) shall be submitted as separate .pdf files to
the following e-mail address:
[email protected].
Each .pdf file shall be named with a description of the
document (e.g., civil cover sheet, complaint). If subsequent
summonses are needed after a case has been opened, the
additional summons should be sent to the new cases e-mail
address.
b. In removed actions, all documents required by 28 U.S.C.
§ 1446(a), along with a copy of the state court docket sheet,
shall be submitted to the new cases mailbox as separate .pdf
files attached to the notice of removal, and shall be clearly
labeled and named with a description of the document (e.g.,
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Exhibit 1: State Court Docket Sheet; Exhibit 2: Petition;
Exhibit 3: Answer).
c. Upon receipt of the Initiating Documents, the Clerk’s Office
will contact the filing party regarding payment of the filing fee.
New civil cases will be deemed filed as of the date they are
received in
[email protected] provided all papers
submitted for filing are received before midnight Central time,
are in proper format, and (i) payment of the filing fee is
tendered within 3 business days of filing or (ii) a motion to
proceed in forma pauperis is submitted with the initiating
documents.
d. Summonses must be submitted using the form provided on the
Court’s website, http://www.okwd.uscourts.gov/forms, and
must be complete.
e. A party may not electronically serve the summons and
complaint, but instead must perfect service according to
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4.
3. Filing Fees.
a. Any fee required for filing a document is payable to the Clerk
by credit card, check, Pay.gov, money order, or cash. The
Clerk will not maintain electronic billing or debit accounts.
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b. Unless payment is made via Pay.gov, upon receipt of the filing
of any paper requiring payment of a fee, the Clerk’s Office will
contact the filing party regarding payment of the filing fee.
4. Exhibits, Attachments, and Appendices.
a. Exhibits and attachments that are filed electronically shall be
submitted as separate attachments to the document and shall be
clearly labeled with the appropriate exhibit number (e.g.,
Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2). Do not use alphabetical or alpha-numeric
designations for exhibits. A description of the numbered
exhibit must be provided in the docket entry (e.g., Exhibit 15:
January 2004 Contract).
b. An appendix of exhibits and attachments may be filed as a
separate document. The cover page shall state the name of the
document related to the appendix (e.g., Appendix to Defendant
Doe’s Motion for Summary Judgment). Exhibits must be
submitted as described in § II.A.4.a above.
c. Exhibits, attachments, and appendices that are not available in
or convertible to .pdf format must be filed conventionally. In
addition, as the Court’s ECF System automatically rejects
filings that are greater than 50 megabytes, documents that
exceed 50 megabytes when converted to .pdf format must be
filed conventionally. To the extent possible, however, the filer
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should separate documents that are greater than 50 megabytes
into smaller segments (e.g., Exhibit 1 - Part 1; Exhibit 1 –
Part 2). Whenever a document or item is conventionally filed
by an ECF registrant, the filer shall electronically file a Notice
of Conventional Filing. A model form is on the Court’s
website at http://www.okwd.uscourts.gov/forms.
5. Courtesy Copies. If an electronically filed document, together with
attachments, exhibits, or appendices, including sealed exhibits related
to the filing, exceeds 40 pages, the filer shall deliver 1 paper copy of
the document, which shall include any sealed exhibits related to the
filing, to the Clerk’s Office within 1 business day of the date of filing
(excluding holidays and days when the Clerk’s Office is inaccessible),
unless the filer’s office is located more than 50 miles from the
courthouse, in which case the paper copy shall be delivered to the
Clerk’s Office within 3 business days of the date of filing. Items
attached to the paper copy should be identified with corresponding
tabs that match the exhibit number. The paper copy shall be bound at
the left-hand margin in a manner that will permit it to be opened flat.
The copy must have the CM/ECF header at the top of each page to
show that the document was filed.
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B. SERVICE.
1. Service Through the ECF System.
a. Whenever a document is filed electronically in accordance
with these procedures, the ECF System will transmit an NEF
to the filing party and any other party who is a registered
participant of the ECF System. No NEF will be generated for
ex parte matters or in sealed cases. A sealed document in a
public case will generate an NEF; however, the document will
not be accessible by the public.
b. NEFs will not be transmitted to an attorney who has been
permitted to withdraw from a case. Should counsel desire to
continue to receive NEFs, they can add the case to their email
preferences through Utilities.
2. Service by Conventional Means.
a. A party who is not a registered participant of the ECF System
is entitled to a paper copy of any electronically filed document.
The filing party must provide non-registered parties with a
copy of the document in accordance with the Federal Rules of
Civil or Criminal Procedure.
b. Counsel may serve any electronically filed document on a
party who is not a registered participant by e-mail, if the
recipient has consented to such service in writing.
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c. A party who files a document on a date the case is scheduled
for trial or hearing must – prior to the commencement of the
proceedings – provide a copy of that filing to the Court and any
other party involved in the trial or hearing.
3. Certificate of Service. No certificate of service is required when a
document is served by filing it with the Court’s ECF System. When
a document is served by other means, a certificate of service stating
the manner in which service will be accomplished must be filed.
Sample language for a certificate of service is on the Court’s website
at http://www.okwd.uscourts.gov/forms.
C. SIGNATURES.
1. Attorney Signature.
a. A document requiring an attorney’s signature shall be signed
by at least one attorney of record above the signature block in
one of the following ways: (1) with an original signature that
is then scanned; (2) with an electronic signature; or (3) with “s/
(attorney name).” The correct format for an attorney signature
is as follows:
Scanned Signature, Electronic Signature, or s/ Attorney Name
Attorney Name
Bar Number: xxxx
Attorney for (Plaintiff/Defendant)
ABC Law Firm
xxx South Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
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Telephone: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
E-mail Address for Service
b. Users are cautioned that some proprietary secure signature
applications are incompatible with the ECF system and
signatures inserted with such software may not appear as
intended.
2. Multiple Signatures. Documents that are submitted on behalf of
more than one attorney may be signed as follows:
a. Approval for Electronic Signature. The attorney whose user
name and password are being used to file the document (“filing
attorney”) may obtain approval from any other attorney to state
that the other attorney has authorized the filing attorney to
electronically sign the document. Such approval shall be
indicated as follows:
s/ Attorney’s Name Filing Attorney’s Signature
(Signed by Filing Attorney (see § II.C.1 for signature
with permission of Attorney) options)
The filing attorney is responsible for maintaining a record of
when and how permission was obtained to sign the other
attorney’s name until all appeals have been exhausted or the
time for seeking appellate review has expired.
b. Approval by Signature. The filing attorney may obtain and
maintain a paper copy of the document signed by the other
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attorney. Possession of a signed copy shall be indicated as
follows:
s/ Attorney’s Name Filing Attorney’s Signature
(Signed copy of document (see § II.C.1 for signature
bearing signature of Attorney options)
is being maintained in the
office of Filing Attorney)
The filing attorney shall maintain the signed copy of the
document until all appeals have been exhausted or the time for
seeking appellate review has expired.
3. Non-Attorney Signature.
a. In General. Documents signed by persons who are not
counsel of record (e.g., verified pleadings, contracts,
affidavits) may be submitted in .pdf format in any of the
following ways if the filer maintains the signed original until
all appeals have been exhausted or the time for seeking
appellate review has expired:
i. An electronic version of the document bearing “s/
(name)” can be filed along with a statement that the filer
has the signed original, for example:
s/ Plaintiff Smith*
*I certify that I have the signed original of this
document, which is available for inspection at any time
by the Court or a party to this action.
Filing Attorney’s Signature
(see § II.C.1 for signature options)
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ii. An electronic version of the document bearing “s/
(name)” can be filed with a scanned copy of the
signature page as an attachment.
iii. If the document containing original signatures is not
digitally available, it may be scanned and filed
electronically.
b. Signatures in Criminal Cases. Several documents in criminal
cases require the signature of a non-attorney, such as a grand
jury foreperson, a defendant, a third-party custodian, a United
States Marshal, or an officer from Pretrial Services or
Probation. Signatures on indictments and signatures by
criminal defendants must be original signatures; such
documents will be scanned and filed electronically by Court
staff. Signatures for other persons in criminal cases may be
affixed using any of the options permitted in § II.C.1.
4. Signature Disputes. Anyone who disputes the authenticity of any
signature must file an objection to the document within 7 days of service.
D. TITLE OF DOCKET ENTRIES.
When creating a document to be filed electronically, the filer shall use a title
that matches one of the docket event categories contained in the ECF Menu,
which is on the Court’s website at www.okwd.uscourts.gov.
This same docket event category shall be used when filing the document.
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E. FILING ERRORS.
1. Changes after Submission. Once a document is submitted and
becomes part of the case, the ECF System will not permit the filer to
change the document or the docket entry.
2. Notification of Mistakes. Filers should make every effort to ensure
they do not file a document other than the one intended to be filed,
that it is filed in the correct case, and that it does not contain
information that should have been redacted or filed under seal. The
Clerk’s Office should be notified of any mistakes by telephone at
405-609-5555 or toll-free at 1-888-609-6593 or by e-mail at
[email protected].
The notifier should provide the Clerk’s Office with the case number
and docket number of the erroneous entry. The filer should not refile
the document unless directed to do so.
3. Personal Identifiers. If a document containing personal identifiers
is filed erroneously, a Motion for Order Sealing Document and
Directing the Filing of a Redacted Documents shall be filed. The form
motion and the proposed order may be found on the Court’s website
at http://www.okwd.uscourts.gov/forms.
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F. TECHNICAL FAILURES.
1. Court’s ECF System.
a. A technical failure exists when the ECF System is unable to
accept filings over the course of any period of time greater than
2 hours after 12:00 noon that day. The ECF System will be
unable to accept filings during periods of routine system
maintenance. To minimize disruption, routine system
maintenance typically occurs on weekends during early
morning hours (and does not occur every weekend). Check the
Court’s website for postings regarding any ECF System
outages.
b. Should a filing be untimely because of a technical failure of the
Court’s ECF System, the filer may seek appropriate relief from
the assigned Judge.
2. Filer’s System. Problems on the filer’s end, such as phone line
problems, problems with the filer’s Internet Service Provider, or
hardware or software problems, will not constitute a technical failure
under these procedures or excuse an untimely filing. Upon a showing
of good cause, the assigned Judge may grant appropriate relief for an
untimely filing.
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G. ORDERS AND PROPOSED PAPERS.
1. Orders Initiated by the Court.
a. All orders shall be in text-searchable .pdf format.
b. The Judge may affix an electronic signature, sign using “s/
Judge Name,” or scan a copy of the signature page as an
attachment to the order. Any order signed electronically has
the same force and effect as if the Judge had signed a paper
copy of the order.
2. Proposed Papers Submitted by the Parties.
a. When a party is required to file a proposed order, (i) the motion
to which the proposed order pertains must be filed prior to
submitting the proposed order, and (ii) the proposed order must
refer to the docket entry number for the motion. Proposals sent
to the Court must be copied to all other counsel of record and
pro se parties. See LCvR5.5.
b. All proposed papers submitted by the parties shall be in a
format compatible with Microsoft Word. Proposals in .pdf
format will not be accepted. All proposed papers other than
proposed sealed orders shall be submitted via the designated
mailbox for the assigned Judge as indicated below. Unless
otherwise authorized, such mailboxes are to be used solely for
the purpose of submitting settlement conference statements
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and proposals, proposed papers (e.g., proposed orders,
proposed jury instructions, proposed findings of fact and
conclusions of law), default judgments, and proposed
judgments as ordered by the assigned Judge. This submission
is in addition to any filing obligation. All papers shall be
clearly identified in the subject line of the sender’s e-mail as
follows: Settlement Conference Statement in [case number];
Proposed Order in [case number]; Plaintiff/Defendant’s
Proposed Jury Instructions in [case number];
Plaintiff/Defendant’s Proposed Findings and Conclusions in
[case number]; Default Judgment in [case number]; Proposed
Judgment in [case number]; and, any other Court-ordered
proposal in [case number].
Chief Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti
[email protected]
Judge Scott L. Palk
[email protected]
Judge Charles B. Goodwin
[email protected]
Judge Patrick R. Wyrick
[email protected]
Judge Jodi W. Dishman
[email protected]
Judge Bernard M. Jones
[email protected]
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Judge David L. Russell
[email protected]
Judge Stephen P. Friot
[email protected]
Judge Joe Heaton
[email protected]
Magistrate Judge Shon T. Erwin
[email protected]
Magistrate Judge Suzanne Mitchell
[email protected]
Magistrate Judge Amanda Maxfield
[email protected]
Magistrate Judge Chris Stephens
[email protected]
c. Proposed sealed orders shall be submitted to:
[email protected].
Do not send any sealed document directly to a Judge’s
designated mailbox.
3. Writ, Warrant, or Summons. A party moving for issuance of a writ,
warrant, or summons shall prepare the writ, warrant, or summons in a
format compatible with Microsoft Word and submit these documents
along with any required proposed order.
4. Default Judgment. After the filing of the appropriate motion(s), a
proposed Clerk’s entry of default and any proposed judgment of
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default shall be submitted to the designated mailbox for the assigned
Judge indicated in § II.G.2.b.
H. PRIVACY.
1. Documents to be Filed Under Seal. Leave of Court is required to
file a document or a portion of a document under seal, which shall be
requested by filing a motion and submitting a proposed order granting
the relief. In civil cases, the motion requesting leave should not
ordinarily be filed under seal and therefore should state only in a
general way the reason for the request (e.g., the document contains
privileged, sensitive, or personal information). If the motion is
granted, the filer shall electronically file the sealed document. If only
a portion of a document should be filed under seal (such as an exhibit
to a motion), only that portion shall be filed under seal. For example,
if Exhibit 14 to a motion for summary judgment should be sealed, the
motion and exhibits should be filed electronically with the following
notation at Exhibit 14: “Exhibit 14 filed under seal pursuant to Court
order issued [date].” Exhibit 14 should then be electronically filed as
a separate sealed document. If the document including the sealed
exhibits is more than 40 pages, see § II.A.5.
2. Redacted Documents.
a. As set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 and/or
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1, filers shall omit or,
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where inclusion is necessary, partially redact the following
personal data identifiers from all electronically filed pleadings,
papers, and exhibits, unless otherwise ordered:
i. Minors’ names: Identify only by the minor’s initials;
ii. Financial account numbers: Identify the name or type of
account and the financial institution where maintained,
but use only the last four numbers of the account
number;
iii. Social Security numbers: Use only the last four
numbers;
iv. Dates of birth: Use only the year; and
v. Addresses: In criminal matters, include only the city and
state of a home address.
These provisions do not apply to official transcripts of court
proceedings, which are governed by General Order 08-03,
Local Civil Rule 5.2.1 and Local Criminal Rule 49.1.1.
b. The filer may omit or, where inclusion is necessary, partially
redact the following confidential information from all
electronically filed pleadings, papers, and exhibits, unless the
assigned Judge orders otherwise:
i. Personal identifying number, such as driver’s license
number;
ii. Medical records, treatment, and diagnosis;
iii. Employment history;
iv. Individual financial information; and
v. Proprietary or trade secret information.
3. Unredacted Documents. Consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil
and Criminal Procedure, leave of Court may be granted to file under
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seal a document containing unredacted personal data identifiers listed
above.
a. The party seeking to file an unredacted document shall file a
motion to file the document under seal.
b. If the motion is granted, the filer (other than a pro se litigant)
shall electronically file the unredacted document using the
Court’s ECF System.
c. The assigned Judge may require the filer to file a redacted copy
for the public record. The redacted document shall be clearly
identified as a redacted version.
4. Responsibility to Redact. The responsibility for redacting personal
data identifiers rests solely with counsel and the parties. The Clerk
will not review documents for compliance with this rule, seal
documents containing personal data identifiers, or redact documents.
I. PRO SE LITIGANTS.
Pro se litigants shall file paper originals of all complaints, pleadings,
motions, affidavits, briefs, and other documents. The Clerk will scan these
original documents but will retain the paper original only if it is illegible or
is needed as a courtesy copy.
J. SOCIAL SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION CASES.
1. Absent a showing of good cause, all documents in Social Security and
immigration cases shall be filed and noticed electronically.
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2. To address the privacy issues inherent in Social Security and
immigration cases, remote access to the individual documents will be
limited. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2(c). Docket sheets, however, will be
remotely available to non-parties.
K. PETITIONS FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
If the state court record is filed in a habeas case, it shall be filed
electronically. State court records, or portions thereof, that cannot be
electronically filed shall be filed conventionally and the filer shall
electronically file a Notice of Conventional Filing. A model form is on the
Court’s website at http://www.okwd.uscourts.gov/forms.
Notwithstanding § II.B.2, if a pro se litigant in a habeas case is not otherwise
entitled to receive a copy of the state court record, such litigant will not
receive a paper copy of the state court record when it is electronically filed.
III. PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE ECF SYSTEM
A. PUBLIC ACCESS AT THE COURT.
The public may access the electronic docket and documents filed on the ECF
System at no charge at the Clerk’s Office during regular business hours
(generally, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). A copy fee for
an electronic reproduction is required in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1914.
B. REMOTE ACCESS.
1. PACER. Remote electronic access to the ECF System is limited to
subscribers to the PACER system. The Judicial Conference of the
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United States has ruled that a user fee will be charged for remotely
accessing case information, such as filed documents and docket sheets
in civil cases. Such fees do not apply to the initial viewing of a
document served via an NEF. If, however, the document is again
remotely accessed through PACER, a fee will be incurred.
2. Public Access to Criminal Case Records. Only attorneys of record
who have logged in using their user name and password will have
remote access to papers filed before November 1, 2004 in criminal
cases; remote public access to docket sheets in all criminal cases,
however, is available. In addition, remote public access to publicly-
available documents filed on or after November 1, 2004 is available.
3. Sealed and Restricted Documents. Sealed documents, Presentence
Reports, Statements of Reasons, Violation Reports, and other
restricted documents filed in criminal cases may be remotely accessed
only by counsel for the government and counsel for the applicable
defendant. Sealed and restricted documents filed in civil cases may
be remotely accessed only by active counsel for participants in the
case. To remotely view these documents from the NEF, counsel
should use their user name and password.
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C. CONVENTIONAL COPIES AND CERTIFIED COPIES.
Conventional copies and certified copies of electronically filed documents
may be purchased at the Clerk’s Office. The fee for copying and certifying
will be in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1914.
IV. GLOSSARY OF TERMS.
Conventional Filing or Conventionally Submitted Document:
a filing submitted in paper or other non-electronic, tangible format.
Electronic Case Filing or Electronic Filing:
submitting a pleading, document, or other paper using the Court’s Internet-based
system (the ECF System) for filing in the Court’s case file. Sending a paper to the
Clerk or the assigned Judge via e-mail or fax does not constitute “electronic filing.”
Electronic Signature:
a digital version of an actual signature.
Flatten:
remove metadata from a .pdf document.
Notice of Electronic Filing (“NEF”):
the notice generated by the ECF System when a document is filed. The NEF
constitutes the official file stamp. It includes information about what was filed, the
text of the docket entry, the unique document stamp, and a list of case participants
who will receive e-mail notification of the filing and a list of those who will not.
The NEF contains a hyperlink to the filed document that permits the viewer to access
the document one time through PACER without incurring charges. To do so, the
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recipient of the NEF must access the document within 15 days of receipt using the
document number hyperlink rather than the hyperlink for the case number.
Selecting the case number hyperlink will cause PACER charges to be incurred.
PACER:
PACER is the Federal Judiciary’s system for Public Access to Court Electronic
Records. A PACER account is required to retrieve documents from the ECF System
after the initial transmission of an NEF. To register for a PACER account, visit the
PACER Service Center’s website at www.pacer.gov.
Password:
the series of letters, numbers, and/or symbols designated by registrants to access
their PACER accounts.
Pay.gov:
on-line payment option available only to authorized users.
Portable Document Format (.pdf) File:
a file that will look the same on the screen and in print, regardless of what kind of
computer or printer is used and regardless of what software package was originally
used to create it.
Pro se Litigants or Pro se Parties:
parties proceeding without attorney representation.
Remote Access:
offsite access to the Court’s ECF System.
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Scanned Document:
an image recorded by an electronic device (a “scanner”). The filing party is
responsible for the legibility of the scanned document. Documents containing text
should be scanned using optical character reader, which is an option in your scanner
preferences.
Scanning a Document:
the act of creating an image that is recorded by an electronic device (a “scanner”).
Text-searchable:
the reader can search for a word or phrase within the document. A Microsoft Word
document that is saved as a .pdf document should automatically be text-searchable.
A document that is scanned to .pdf format will need to use optical character reader,
which is an option in your scanner preferences.
50 Megabytes (MB):
50 million bytes. A byte is the basic unit of information in computer storage and
processing. Documents that are computer-generated require fewer bytes than the
equivalent pages of a scanned document. Likewise, documents that are text only
use fewer bytes than graphics or photographs.
User Name:
a series of letters and/or numbers.
V. HOW TO FLATTEN A .PDF FILE
A fillable .pdf form allows the insertion of text into an existing template. The ECF System
does not automatically remove the metadata from the document when it is uploaded, so the
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document is still editable after it has been electronically filed. To avoid filing an editable
document, the filer must flatten the .pdf document (i.e., remove the metadata) prior to
uploading it to the ECF System.
To flatten a .pdf file:
1. Open the .pdf document in Adobe Acrobat or other program that works with
.pdf files.
2. Print the .pdf file to a .pdf printer (CTRL+P will pull up the print settings.
Select from the drop-down “Adobe PDF” or click File > Print > select Adobe
PDF or another .pdf printer listed in the drop-down list).
3. Save the printed .pdf document and upload it for filing.
Blue Boxes = editable (non-flattened) Yellow or white boxes = not editable (flattened)
If the .pdf file has not been properly flattened or if it contains metadata not related to filling
out a form, the filer may receive this error message:
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Flattening the document removes metadata that is incompatible with the ECF System.
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