IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
INRE:
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
PRISONER E-FILING PROGRAM
IT IS ORDERED that, effective May 15, 2017, the United States District Court for
the Western District of Wisconsin joins the Prisoner E-Filing Program currently administered
by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Under this
program, prisoners at the institutions listed below with cases proceeding in the Western
District are required to submit to prison staff the documents that they wish to file in those
cases. Prison staff will then scan those documents and email them to the court. The Policies
and Procedures Manual for the program is attached to this order.
The following institutions are participating in this program:
• Columbia Correctional Institution
• Dodge Correctional Institution
• Green Bay Correctional Institution
• Oshkosh Correctional Institution
• Waupun Correctional Institution
• Wisconsin Secure Program Facility
Exceptions to this policy will be granted only for good cause.
Entered May 11, 2017.
BY THE COURT:
J~ETERSON
Chief Judge
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN AND WESTERN DISTRICTS OF WISCONSIN
PRISONER E-FILING PROGRAM
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MANUAL
May 1, 2017
I. PRISONER E-FILING PROGRAM
A. INSTITUTIONS
The Prisoner E-Filing Program began on October 13, 2011 at Green Bay Correctional
Institution. Over time, the program has been expanded to include Columbia
Correctional Institution, Dodge Correctional Institution, Oshkosh Correctional
Institution, Waupun Correctional Institution, and Wisconsin Secure Program Facility.
In May 2017, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
joined the Prisoner E-Filing Program. It is anticipated that the program will continue
to expand to additional institutions in the future.
B. PROCEDURE
1. Institution staff scans prisoner filings to PDF.
2. Institution staff then e-mails PDF documents to the Clerk of Court' s Office
on a daily basis, excluding weekends and holidays.
3. Upon receipt of the documents via e-mail, the Clerk's Office reviews the
documents for quality control purposes, i.e., legibility and conformance with
redaction requirements, and then e-files the prisoner' s documents into the
CM/ECF system. For any document that is not a complaint (which requires
service of process), the Court recognizes the Notice of Electronic Filing
generated by the electronic case filing system as the official service upon and
notice to the other parties.
4. The institution receives a Notice of Electronic Filing when a document has
been filed electronically. Correctional staff prints the prisoner' s Notice of
Electronic Filing and provides it to the prisoner as proof of filing.
5. Inmates continue to receive filings from the Court and the defendants via
United States mail.
C. EQUIPMENT
The participating correctional institutions will use existing equipment to scan and e-
mail an inmate' s original document.
D. TRAINING
Staff of the Green Bay and Madison Clerk' s Offices will provide training by video-
conference and are available by telephone to answer questions from institutional staff.
The following written materials will be forwarded to institution staff: Prisoner E-Filing Program
Policies and Procedures Manual; Instructions for Institution Staff; Filing Checklist for Inmates;
Notice to Inmates (announcing the E-Filing Program); Discovery Notice; and Notice Regarding
Forms.
