The Colorado Supreme Court announced several rule changes moving forward, including new requirements around the use of E-Filing with the appellate court system.
The state’s high court amended Rule 30, and it now requires Colorado-licensed attorneys to use the E-System when filing in the state’s appellate courts system. Language was also changed in the rule around the time requirements of E-Filing. It now states that documents filed through the E-Filing system before 11:59 p.m. Colorado time are considered served on the date that they are transmitted.
It also changes the language at the end of the rule, reiterating that E-filing is now mandated for the appellate courts. The one exception to the E-Filing and E-Service requirement are self-represented parties, who are excluded from the requirements.
The full shift to E-Filing isn’t the only change to the rules this year. A new section has been added to Rule 3.1, which relates to appeals from Colorado’s Industrial Claim Appeals Office. There is now a notice of appeal requirement, which states that “appeals from orders and awards of the Industrial Claim Appeals Office will be in the manner and within the time prescribed by statute.”
The changes also include a slight change to the deadlines. Appellants now have 14 days after the filing, not return, of the record to file an opening brief.
In cases involving dependency and neglect under Rule 3.4, extensions to file the record are now under the purview of the trial court, rather than the appellant.
Rule 9 was also completely struck, with the court now allowing appellate review of the terms and conditions of bail or appeal bond through the procedures outlined by Section 16-4-204 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. Section 16-4-205 provides the structure for when the appellate court can fix an appeal bond.
The E-Filing mandate also comes up in Rule 25, and the courts also changed the proof of service section to “Certificate of Service.” The rule requires filing documents to include a certificate of service, which needs to be certified by the person who served it and contain the date and manner of service.
Rules 52 and 53, which relate to writs of certiorari, also received amendments. Under the updated Rule 52, a timely filed petition for writ or a motion to extend the time to file for writ transfer jurisdiction of the case from the Colorado Court of Appeals to the state’s high court. Rule 53 now requires the filing and service of a writ to be made in the Colorado Supreme Court. It also requires the party initiating a cert to serve every party that participated in the underlying proceeding.