FILED
2020 NOV 9
CLERK
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF UTAH
IN RE: AUTHORITY TO REFUND GENERAL ORDER
DUPLICATE OR ERRONEOUS
No. 20-031
ONLINE FEE PAYMENTS
The Judicial Conference of the United States has a long-standing policy of not
refunding fees that may have been paid in error. (JCUS-Mar 49.) But with the court’s
increasing reliance on Pay.gov to process online payments, mistakes have occurred,
resulting in duplicate or erroneous payments.
To remedy the problem, the Judicial Conference approved guidance regarding the
refund of electronic payments in certain circumstances. Authority to approve a refund is a
judicial determination, but the Judicial Conference decided that the Chief Judge may
delegate authority to make the determination to the Clerk of the Court so long as the court
has clear procedures that specify the type of refund that the Clerk may approve. This
Order establishes procedures for the refund of duplicate or erroneously paid fees but
does not otherwise amend the general refund policy.
ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, that the Clerk of Court, or designee, is
authorized to refund all fees erroneously paid through Pay.gov using the court’s CM/ECF
system in the following circumstances:
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1. Duplicate Payments – for example, filing fee, annual attorney registration
fee, attorney admission fee, or certificate of good standing fee paid more
than once resulting in two or more identical credit card charges; or
2. Erroneous Payments – for example, payment of the wrong amount or made
in the wrong case.
A person requesting a refund must complete the Refund Request Form, save the
completed form as a PDF document, and file the form using the court’s CM/ECF system.
The completed form will be a restricted entry in the court’s CM/ECF system and will be
unavailable to the public. In newly filed cases, please wait 24-48 hours to request a
refund because the case will need to be opened in CM/ECF before a refund can be
issued. Additional instructions for requesting a refund can be found on the court’s
website.
If the court discovers an erroneous filing for which a fee has not yet been collected,
the court may correct the erroneous filing administratively and not collect the fee.
Authorized refunds for credit card or debit card payments will be processed through
Pay.gov. Authorized refunds of ACH payments will be issued by check through the U.S.
Treasury. A waiting period of up to 30 days may be required before the approval of any
request. In no event will the Clerk of Court issue a cash refund.
If a person or law firm repeatedly requests refunds for mistakes made when paying
fees online, the Clerk of Court may request that the court order remedial action, which
may include requiring the person to take additional CM/ECF training.
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SO ORDERED this 9th day of November, 2020.
BY THE COURT:
_____________________________________
ROBERT J. SHELBY
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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