Harris County Court

Electronic filing (e-filing) of court documents is mandatory for attorneys and optional for unrepresented parties. This mandate extends to Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Court of Criminal Appeals cases. The following guide is a quick reference to ensure you meet state and local standards. For detailed queries or exceptions, consult the court’s local rules or court clerk, and view original mandates on the Supreme Court website.

• File every pleading, motion, or application to the court for an order in writing with the court clerk.
• Ensure the document clearly states the grounds for the request and the relief sought.
• Serve a true copy of the filed document on all other parties involved in the case.
• Note the filing on the court’s docket to officially record the submission.

Sensitive Data
All sensitive data must be redacted from electronic and physical documents unless required by a statute, court rules, or administrative order. Sensitive data includes a driver’s license, passport or social security number.

Deadline
A document is considered timely filed if it is electronically filed at any time before midnight (in the court’s time zone) on the filing deadline.

For civil filings, documents filed on Saturday, Sunday, or legal holidays are considered filed on the next business day. Documents that require a motion or an order to file are considered filed on the date the motion is granted.

Technical Failures
If you experience a technical issue or outage and cannot submit on time, you can contact your clerk to ask for relief from the court.

Paper Copies
A filer should provide paper copies of electronically filed documents upon request by a court or when specified by local rules.

Original Wills
When a party electronically applies to probate a document as an original will, the party must file the original will with the clerk within three business days of the application.

Pleadings
When filing a pleading for a represented party, include the signature of at least one attorney, including their name, State Bar of identification number, address, phone number, email address, and fax number if available. Unrepresented parties can sign their pleadings and include their address, phone number, email address, and fax number if available.

Across all practice areas, certain documents cannot be e-filed, such as:

Court-sealed documents: Documents bearing the court's seal, such as bonds and subpoenas.

Sealed or restricted documents: Documents sealed or restricted by law or court order must be filed in paper form.

In-camera review documents: Documents intended solely for a judge's private review cannot be filed electronically.

Juvenile cases: Documents related to juvenile cases under Title 3 of the Family Code are ineligible for electronic filing.

Truancy cases: Documents related to truancy cases under Title 3A of the Family Code cannot be filed electronically.

Wills: Wills do not need to be e-filed.

When e-filing, your documents will need to comply with the Judicial Committee on Information Technology (JCIT) standards. The Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals approve format guidelines, filing codes, and technology standards. The court can reject documents with any variation.

• Text-searchable portable format (PDF) 8.5×11 page size and appropriately rotated. You will need to convert your document to PDF rather than scanning it whenever possible.
• Documents and appendices should be a single file when possible.
• If you must e-file a scanned document, the document must have a resolution of 300 DPI and be made searchable using OCR technology. All black-and-white documents require 300 DPI resolution, and colour images need 600 DPI.
• The document cannot be locked or contain security, feature restrictions, or embedded multimedia video, audio, or programming.
• Use alphanumeric characters from the Latin1_General character set for the filename, which should be restricted to 50 characters, including the extension.

Email
The email address of any person who electronically files a document must be included on the document.

Variations
File size can vary, and some jurisdictions require a Civil Process Request Form or combined pleadings and exhibits into a single document, with each section bookmarked. Check with your court clerk to see if there are any variations for your jurisdiction.included on the document.

Non-conforming Documents
The clerk cannot refuse a document that fails to conform to these rules. The clerk may identify the error to be corrected and state a deadline for the party to resubmit the document in a conforming format. Correct deviations and resubmit e-filing to comply with court standards.

Electronic Signatures
You can e-sign a document that will be considered served, filed, or issued by the court or clerk in two ways. You can include “/s/” and your name typed in the space where the signature would otherwise appear unless the document is notarized or sworn. Alternatively, you can upload an electronic or scanned image of your signature. The sender should maintain the original of the document with an original signature affixed as required by Section 51.806, Texas Government Code.

Electronic Notices and Orders
The court clerk can send electronic notices, orders, and other communications.

A notice of a hearing on an application to the court for an order must be served to all parties at least three days before the scheduled hearing time unless otherwise specified by the court's rules.

Pleadings

When filing a pleading, if you are an unrepresented party, sign your pleadings and include their address, phone number, email address, and fax number, if available. If you are e-filing a pleading for a represented party, include:

• The signature of at least one attorney, including their name
• State Bar identification number
• Contact information (address, phone number, email address, and fax number if available).

Services
Serve all e-filed documents electronically. You can use an alternative service method if a document was not e-filed or there is no email on record. Acceptable alternative service methods include in-person delivery, mail, commercial delivery service, fax, email, or other methods directed by the court.

Electronic filing (e-filing) of court documents is mandatory for attorneys and optional for unrepresented parties. This mandate extends to Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Court of Criminal Appeals cases. The following guide is a quick reference to ensure you meet state and local standards. For detailed queries or exceptions, consult the court’s local rules or court clerk, and view original mandates on the Supreme Court website.

• File every pleading, motion, or application to the court for an order in writing with the court clerk.
• Ensure the document clearly states the grounds for the request and the relief sought.
• Serve a true copy of the filed document on all other parties involved in the case.
• Note the filing on the court’s docket to officially record the submission.

Sensitive Data
In the case of an appeal involving a minor, if you are filing in a parental rights termination case or with the juvenile court, you will need to use alias precautions to maintain the minor's privacy.
- Identify minors by alias in all court documents except the docketing statement.
- The court may order that a minor's parent or other family member be identified by alias to protect the minor's identity.
- Use aliases in court opinions to refer to minors and their family members.

Deadline
A document is considered timely filed if it is electronically filed at any time before midnight (in the court’s time zone) on the filing deadline.

Technical Failures
If you experience a technical issue or outage and cannot submit on time, you can contact your clerk to ask for relief from the court.

Paper Copies
A filer should provide paper copies of electronically filed documents upon request by a court or when specified by local rules.

In appeals cases, do not e-file the following documents. An appellate court may allow the paper filing for other documents with good cause shown.

Court-sealed documents: Documents bearing the court's seal, such as bonds and subpoenas.

Sealed or restricted documents: Documents sealed or restricted by law or court order must be filed in paper form.

In-camera review documents: Documents intended solely for a judge's private review cannot be filed electronically.

Juvenile cases: Documents related to juvenile cases under Title 3 of the Family Code are ineligible for electronic filing.

Truancy cases: Documents related to truancy cases under Title 3A of the Family Code cannot be filed electronically.

When e-filing, your documents will need to comply with the Judicial Committee on Information Technology (JCIT) standards. The Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals approve format guidelines, filing codes, and technology standards. The court can reject documents with any variation.

• Text-searchable portable format (PDF) 8.5×11 page size and appropriately rotated. You will need to convert your document to PDF rather than scanning it whenever possible.
• Documents and appendices should be a single file when possible.
• If you must e-file a scanned document, the document must have a resolution of 300 DPI and be made searchable using OCR technology. All black-and-white documents require 300 DPI resolution, and colour images need 600 DPI.
• The document cannot be locked or contain security, feature restrictions, or embedded multimedia video, audio, or programming.
• Use alphanumeric characters from the Latin1_General character set for the filename, which should be restricted to 50 characters, including the extension.

Email
The email address of any person who electronically files a document must be included on the document.

Printing
Produce documents using standard typographic printing or a clear duplicating process, creating a distinct black image on one side of 8 1/2 by 11-inch white or nearly white, opaque paper.

Margins
Maintain at least one-inch margins on all sides.

Spacing
Double-spaced text, except for footnotes, block quotations, shortlists, and points of error, which may be single-spaced.

Typeface
When producing documents on a computer, use a conventional typeface no smaller than 14 points for the body text and 12 points for footnotes. Typewritten documents should be in a standard 10-character-per-inch monospaced typeface.

Length Restrictions
Count every word and element, including headings, footnotes, and quotations, except for specific exclusions like the caption and proof of service. Adhere to the following word limits for various types of documents:

• For direct appeals to the Court of Criminal Appeals with death penalty cases and subsequent habeas corpus applications: 37,500 words (or 125 pages if not computer-generated).
• For briefs and responses in appellate courts, petitions, and responses in original proceedings in the court of appeals: 15,000 words (or 50 pages if not computer-generated).
• For civil cases in the court of appeals: 27,000 words (or 90 pages if not computer-generated).
• For reply briefs in appellate courts and replies to responses in original proceedings: 7,500 words (or 25 pages if not computer-generated).
• For various petitions and responses in the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals: 2,400 to 9,000 words (or 8 to 30 pages if not computer-generated), depending on the specific type of filing.

Certification of Compliance
Include a certificate stating the word count for computer-generated documents subject to length limits. You can rely on the word count provided by the document preparation software.

Extensions
If necessary, request extensions from the court to exceed prescribed limits.

Non-conforming Documents
The clerk cannot refuse a document that fails to conform to these rules. The clerk may identify the error to be corrected and state a deadline for the party to resubmit the document in a conforming format. Correct deviations and resubmit e-filing to comply with court standards.

Electronic Notices and Orders
The clerk can send electronic notices, orders, and other communications for civil and criminal appeal cases.

A notice of a hearing on an application to the court for an order must be served to all parties at least three days before the scheduled hearing time unless otherwise specified by the court's rules.

The clerk will need to send orders electronically through a certified electronic filing service provider, except when:
- Orders are sealed, or access is restricted by law or court order.
- An unrepresented party has not provided an email address.

Pleadings
When filing a pleading, if you are an unrepresented party, sign your pleadings and include their address, phone number, email address, and fax number, if available. If you are e-filing a pleading for a represented party, include:

• The signature of at least one attorney, including their name
• State Bar identification number
• Contact information (address, phone number, email address, and fax number if available).

Services
The filing party must serve copies of the document to all parties involved in the proceeding.

Electronic service is complete upon transmission to the serving party’s electronic filing service provider, with confirmation sent by the electronic filing manager.

Documents presented for filing must include proof of service in the form of either an acknowledgment of service by the recipient or a certificate of service.

Proof of service may be attached to or included within the filed document. While the clerk may accept a document without proof of service initially, the proof must be promptly filed afterward.