THE COURTS
Title 255--LOCAL
COURT RULES
BEAVER COUNTY
Local Rules of Civil Procedure; No. 10130 of 2001
[36 Pa.B. 7238]
[Saturday, December 2, 2006]
Amended Order The second paragraph of our Order of November 6, 2006, is amended to read as follows.
All Local Rules inconsistent with the foregoing Amended Rules are suspended on the effective date of electronic filing for the various category of cases set forth in LR 205.4 (2) (b) as amended.By the Court
ROBERT E. KUNSELMAN,
President Judge
Local Rules of Civil Procedure; No. 10130 of 2001
Order Local Rules LR 205.4, LR 206A, LR 206B and LR 206C are amended as follows. New provisions are in bold and deleted provisions are bracketed and bold.
All Local Rules inconsistent with the foregoing amended rules are suspended upon the effective date of the foregoing amended rules.
The Court Administrator shall transmit copies of this Order as follows:
1. Seven (7) certified copies with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts;
2. Two (2) certified copies and a computer diskette containing the text of this Order and the amended Rules with the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin;
3. One certified copy to the Civil Procedural Rules Committee of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania by attachment to an e-mail addressed to civil. rules@ pacourts.us for publication on the Pennsylvania Judiciary's Web Application Portal;
4. One copy with the Prothonotary of Beaver County to be kept continuously available for public inspection and copying;
5. One copy to the Law Library of Beaver County; and,
6. One copy with the Legal Journal of Beaver County for publication therein.
By the Court
ROBERT E. KUNSELMAN,
President Judge
MOTIONS, RULES AND PETITIONS LR 206A Motion Court
Uncontested Motions and Petitions will be routed by the electronic filing system to the appropriate judge for consideration and the entry of an appropriate order.
Contested Motions and Petitions will be considered by the Court at the times and in accordance with the practice which is published with the annual court calendar.
Note: Former Rule 206A is superseded by this New Rule.
LR 206B Notice To Opposing Party Or Counsel
Unless consented to by all affected parties or otherwise authorized by law or rule of court, no motion or petition will be considered by the Court until the opposing party or his counsel has received at least six (6) business days notice of the Presentation thereof. Notice should be given through the Court's electronic file and serve system but, if given in another manner, must be given in writing. Proof of such other service shall be filed.
Note: Former Rule 206B is superseded by this New Rule.
LR 206C Presentation of Motion or Petition
Except for all Family Law matters, uncontested motions or petitions need not be presented to the Court in hard copy or in person. If any party intends to oppose a motion or petition, that party shall file a Notice of Objection. An Answer to the motion or petition may also be filed.
In all contested civil matters and in all Family Law matters, whether or not an answer is filed, counsel or an unrepresented party shall arrange a time to appear before the Court to present their arguments pursuant to LR 206A.
Note: Former Rule 206C is superseded by this New Rule.
Note: The Court's Order can thereafter be filed electronically by either scanning the same at the Office of the filing party and then filing it electronically or by transmitting the Order to the Prothonotary for scanning and filing electronically. The Prothonotary shall not charge a scanning fee for scanning an Order of Court which is to be filed electronically without a legal paper attached thereto.
Note: A responding party need not file Notice of Objection where the filing party is seeking the issuance of a rule to show cause unless the responding party intends to object to the issuance of the rule to show cause.
LR 206.4(c) Procedures for Issuance of a Rule to Show Cause
(b) A Petition seeking the issuance of a rule to show cause shall be filed electronically pursuant to LR 205.4. Notice of the filing and the service of the Petition shall be effected in accordance with LR 206A, 206B and the presentation thereof in accordance with LR 206C.
(c) The Petition must be accompanied by a proposed order in the form set forth in Pa.R.C.P. No. 206.5 (d).
Note: Subdivisions (a) and (e) of the former rule remains in effect. Subdivisions (b) (c) and (d) are superseded by new Subdivisions (b) and (c).
Note: LR 205.4, 206A, 206B and 206C are available on the Beaver County Website; www.co.beaver. pa.us, Links are available to the Court and then to the Law Library.
LR 208.3 (b) Procedure Governing Motions
(a) All motions shall be filed electronically pursuant to LR 205.4. Notice of the filing and the service of the motion shall be effected in accordance with LR 206A, 206B and the presentation thereof in accordance with LR 206C.
Note: LR 205.4, 206B and 206C are available on the Beaver County Website, www.co.beaver.pa.us. Links are available to the Court and then to the Law Library.
Note: Subdivision (b) of the former Rule remains in effect. Subdivisions (a) and (c) of the former Rule are superseded by New Subdivision (a).
LR 205.4 Electronic Filing and Service of Legal Papers
1. The Prothonotary of Beaver County is hereby authorized to accept filings of legal papers by electronic transmission in accordance with Pa. R.C.P. No. 205.4 and this rule at the following website: http:// www lexisnexis.com/fileandserve
To obtain access to the electronic filing system, all filing parties shall apply for a Username and Password at this website. [or use computer terminals provided at the Office of the Prothonotary of Beaver County.]
Upon the acceptance of a filing by electronic transmission, the Prothonotary, or the Prothonotary's agent shall provide the filing party with a filing status message which sets forth the date and time of acceptance of the filing.
(a) A legal paper includes a writ of summons or a complaint that is original process naming an original defendant or an additional defendant but does not include a notice of appeal from a Board of Arbitration [or], a notice of appeal from a Magisterial District Judge, or papers relating to Protection From Abuse.
(b) All legal papers filed by electronic transmission shall be filed in Microsoft Word for Windows, Word Perfect for Windows or Adobe PDF format. To the extent practical, legal papers shall comply with the requirements of LR Nos. 205.2(a) and 205.2(b). In addition, each page shall be numbered at the bottom center of the page and the case number shall appear, in at least twelve point font, in the upper right-hand corner of each page. All papers filed electronically shall include the electronic mail address of the filing person.
Lexis-Nexis File and Serve will convert any Word or Word Perfect file to PDF Format but the original format shall also be made available to the court. The official record of the court is the PDF version.
(c) Signatures on Electronically Filed Legal Papers
Every legal paper filed and/or served electronically shall be deemed to have been signed if it bears a typographical signature of the filing person, e.g., /s/ John Doe, Esq., along with the typed name, address, telephone number and Supreme Court identification number of the filing attorney. Such typographical signatures shall be treated as personal signatures for all purposes under the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Judges may, in the alternative, use graphic signatures.
2. All legal papers must be filed electronically as set forth in [in accordance with] the schedule hereinafter set forth. For all cases pending on the effective date for electronic filing for that category of cases, the filing party shall also provide the Prothonotary with a hard copy of each legal paper filed electronically. Filing parties must register with Lexis-Nexis File and Serve at the website set forth in subpart 1, unless the filer is not represented by an attorney. Should any party or attorney deliver a legal paper to the Prothonotary in hard copy for filing, the Prothonotary shall electronically upload the legal paper to Lexis-Nexis File and Serve and may assess a filing fee and service fee for the same. All filing parties shall also file a written request for notice of the entry of an order or judgment by electronic means.
(a) In addition to all other applicable fees, the Prothonotary is authorized to collect an automation fee of $5.00 for each initial filing and the sum of $1.00 per page for each page of a legal paper which is not presented in electronic format. The Prothonotary shall not accept a legal paper for filing prior to payment of or the satisfactory arrangements for payment of the required fees. The Prothonotary may delegate the collection and disbursement of fees to Lexis-Nexis File and Serve.
(b) The schedule for legal papers to be filed electronically and the effective date for electronic filing for each category of cases is as follows:
Type of Case Effective Date 1. Mortgage Foreclosure Cases initiated on or after September 18, 2006 2. Judgments by Confession and Municipal Claims Cases initiated on or after November 13, 2006 3. All Other Civil Matters Except Divorce and Child Custody Cases pending or initiated on or after
February 12, 20074. Divorce and Child Custody Cases pending or initiated on or after
April 2, 20073. The Prothonotary need not maintain a hard copy of any legal paper filed electronically except as required to comply with Pa.R.C.P. No. 205.4(b) (2) (ii), cases called for trial, cases appealed to an appellate court, cases transferred to another court, and those portions of cases at issue in an argument scheduled before this Court. On request by the Prothonotary, the filing party shall submit a hard copy of each paper filed electronically to enable the Prothonotary to comply with this part of this Rule.
Further, for all cases pending on the effective date for electronic filing, the filing party shall provide the Prothonotary with a hard copy of each paper filed electronically.
4. The Prothonotary shall provide a computer terminal or terminals for public access to electronically filed legal papers.
5. A legal paper submitted [accepted] for filing shall be deemed to have been filed as of the date and time it was received by the electronic filing system and, if filed electronically by 11:59 p.m. E.T., shall be considered filed once the transmission is successfully completed as recorded on the Lexis-Nexis File and Serve System. If a legal paper is rejected by the Prothonotary, it shall be forthwith returned to the filing party and a reason for its rejection shall be specified. Subject to the provisions of section 7 [6], a rejected legal paper shall be deemed as not having been filed.
6. An electronically filed document is deemed served only upon selection of parties to be served and submission according to the File and Serve procedure. The associated transaction receipt will list the parties selected for service and give proof of date, time and method of service.
7. Any filing party for whom the failure of the website or the erroneous rejection of the legal paper resulted in an untimely filing may petition the Court to request that the legal paper be deemed filed as of the submission dates, such petition shall state the date and time of the failure or rejection, the reason why the legal paper could not be submitted in person, the reason the rejection was erroneous and the reason the legal paper could not be timely resubmitted.
8. Parties not represented by counsel must file electronically with the assistance of the Prothonotary or remotely through a File and Serve Account available solely to pro se litigants and known as a basic account. If a pro se party files remotely, service must be made electronically through File and Serve to the extent feasible. Otherwise, pro se parties must serve legal papers conventionally in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure and the Beaver County Local Rules of Civil Procedure.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 06-2331. Filed for public inspection December 1, 2006, 9:00 a.m.]
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