FILED IN THE
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
1 Dec 04, 2025
SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK
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3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
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5 IN RE: PROCEDURES FOR THE AMENDED GENERAL
FILING OF SEALED DOCUMENTS ORDER NO. 2025-13
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9 In an August 7, 2025, press release, the Administrative Office of the United
10 States Courts announced a requirement for advanced measures to further
11 strengthen protections and secure the integrity of sensitive case documents in the
12 official court record. On August 8, 2025, the Court entered General Order No.
13 2025-13, establishing the requirement for all sealed and ex parte documents to be
14 filed in paper format at the clerk's offices of the Eastern District of Washington.
15 THE COURT FINDS that while the national CM/ECF system remains
16 impacted, the local development of a Federal Information Security Management
17 Act (FISMA) compliant secure file transfer protocol obviates the need for
18 registered users of the Court’s CM/ECF system to file sealed and ex parte
19 documents in paper format with the clerk’s offices.
20 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that effective December 5, 2025,
GENERAL ORDER No. 2025-13 AMENDED
1 1. Registered users of the Court’s CM/ECF system shall submit all sealed and
2 ex parte documents to be filed in the Eastern District of Washington’s
3 criminal and civil cases to the clerk’s office via the Court’s public website’s
4 WAEDocument Portal, a FISMA compliant secure file transfer protocol
5 vehicle.
6 2. Pro se litigants who are not registered users of the Court’s CM/ECF system
7 shall continue to file all sealed and ex parte documents in the Eastern
8 District of Washington’s criminal and civil cases in paper format at the
9 clerk’s office filing/intake counters in the Richland, Spokane or Yakima
10 United States Courthouses. The filings and wet signature requirements of
11 conventional paper filings in Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
12 shall apply.
13 3. Due to the current inability to upload non-public documents into the national
14 CM/ECF system, the service requirements of conventional paper filings in
15 Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure shall apply to all filers.
16 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that there will remain no electronic access to
17 sealed documents other than by court staff.
18 The District Court Executive is directed to enter this Order provide copies to
19 the United States Attorney’s Office, the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington
20 and Idaho, Criminal Justice Act panel attorneys, the Federal Bar Association for
GENERAL ORDER No. 2025-13 AMENDED
1 the Eastern District of Washington, and any other interested person who requests a
2 copy. The District Court Executive is further directed to amend the Eastern
3 District of Washington’s ECF Administrative Procedures to comport with this
4 General Order.
5 DATED this 4th day of December 2025.
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7 STANLEY A. BASTIAN
Chief United States District Judge
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GENERAL ORDER No. 2025-13 AMENDED
