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District of Utah Tests Electronic Summons

The District of Utah is testing electronic issuance of summons. As Bob Wilde pointed out in a recent email, the lack of electronic summons issuance discourages electronic filing of complaints.

My secretary and I were discussing the anomalous situation which has virtually all documents getting e-filed but requires us to come to the clerk?s office to get summons issued. The result for us is that it is just easier to take everything, summons, complaint, cover sheet, check, etc., to court and file it conventionally than it is to file everything but the summons electronically and then get the summons to the clerk?s office for issuance by hand. Certainly there is some way we could submit an electronic copy of the summons which could then be issued and returned to us electronically so we can print it for service. I don?t know if this is a local rules issue or a CM-ECF issue but it seems to me it would be easier for all concerned if we could find a way to do summons electronically.

The clerk's office has been testing electronically issued summons (service must still be made under Rule 4) and has created a form that will likely be used in 2009.

Full post as published by Utah District Court Blog on December 02, 2008 (boomark / email).