Md. Gen. Provi. 1-322

As amended through October 15, 2024

Rule 1-322 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Filing of Pleadings, Papers, and Other Items

(a)Generally. The filing of pleadings, papers, and other items with the court shall be made by filing them with the clerk of the court, except that a judge of that court may accept the filing, in which event the judge shall note on the item the date the judge accepted it for filing and forthwith transmit the item to the office of the clerk. On the same day that an item is received in a clerk's office, the clerk shall note on it the date it was received and enter on the docket that date and any date noted on the item by a judge. The item shall be deemed filed on the earliest of (1) the filing date noted by a judge on the item, (2) the date noted by the clerk on the item, or (3) the date established under section (d) of this Rule. No item may be filed directly by electronic transmission, except (1) pursuant to an electronic filing system approved under Rule 16-203,(2) as permitted by Rule 14-209.1,(3) as provided in section (b) of this Rule, or (4) as permitted by Code, Family Law Article, § 4-505.1, (5) pursuant to Title 20 of these Rules, or (6) digital media submitted using a digital storage platform approved by the State Court Administrator.

(b)Electronic Transmission of Mandates of the Supreme Court of the United States. A Maryland court shall accept a mandate of the Supreme Court of the United States transmitted by electronic means unless the court does not have the technology to receive it in the form transmitted, in which event the clerk shall promptly so inform the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States and request an alternative method of transmission. The clerk of the Maryland court may request reasonable verification of the authenticity of a mandate transmitted by electronic means.

(c)Photocopies; Facsimile Copies. A photocopy or facsimile copy of a pleading or paper, once filed with the court, shall be treated as an original for all court purposes. The attorney or party filing the copy shall retain the original from which the filed copy was made for production to the court upon the request of the court or any party.

(d)Filings by Self-Represented Individuals Confined in Certain Facilities

(1)Application of section. This section applies only to self-represented individuals who (A) are confined in a correctional or other detention facility pursuant to a court order in a criminal or juvenile delinquency case, (B) have no direct access to the U.S. Postal Service or the ability to file an electronic submission under the Rules in Title 20, and (C) seek relief from a criminal conviction or their confinement by filing (i) a motion for new trial, an appeal, an application for review of sentence by a panel, a motion for modification of sentence, a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court, an application for leave to appeal, a motion or petition for a writ of habeas corpus or coram nobis, a motion or petition for statutory post-conviction relief, or a petition for judicial review of the denial of an inmate grievance complaint, or (ii) a paper in connection with any of those matters.

(2)Generally. A pleading or paper filed under this section shall be deemed to have been filed on the date that the pleading or paper, in mailable form and with proper postage affixed, was deposited by the individual into a receptacle designated by the facility for outgoing mail or personally delivered to an employee of the facility authorized by the facility to collect such mail. The clerk shall record the date a filing was received by the clerk, docket the filing, and make a note for the court of any discernable filing date as defined in subsection (d)(3).

(3)Proof of Date of Filing The date of filing may be proved by (A) a date stamp affixed by the facility to the pleading, paper, or envelope containing the pleading or paper, or (B) a Certificate of Filing attached to or included with the pleading or paper, substantially in the form provided in subsection (d)(4) of this Rule that, in the event of a dispute, the court finds to be credible.

(4)Certificate of Filing. A Certificate of Filing shall be substantially in the following form:

CERTIFICATE OF FILING

I, __________ (name), certify that (1) I am involuntarily confined in __________ (name of facility); (2) I have no direct access to the U.S. Postal Service or to a permitted means of electronically filing the attached pleading or paper; (3) on __________ (date) at approximately __________ (time) I personally [ ] deposited the attached pleading or paper for mailing in a receptacle designated by the facility for outgoing mail or [ ] delivered it to an employee of the facility authorized by the facility to collect outgoing mail; and (4) the item was in mailable form and had the correct postage on it.

I solemnly affirm this ___ day of __________, 20 ___ under the penalty of perjury and upon personal knowledge that the foregoing statements are true.

____________________________

(Signature)

Md. Gen. Provi. 1-322

This Rule is derived in part from the 1980 version of Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(e) and Rule 102 1 d of the Rules of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and is in part new.

Adopted April 6, 1984, eff. 7/1/1984. Amended March 22, 1991, eff. 7/1/1991; 6/5/1995, eff. 7/1/1995; 6/5/1996, eff. 1/1/1997; 10/31/2002, eff. 1/1/2003; 11/12/2003, eff. 1/1/2004; 10/20/2010, eff. 1/1/2011; 5/1/2013, eff. 7/1/2013; 7/2/2013; 3/2/2015, eff. 7/1/2015; 6/6/2016, eff. 7/1/2016; 10/10/2018, eff. 1/1/2019; amended April. 21, 2023, eff. 7/1/2023; amended Oct. 15, 2024, eff. 1/1/2025.

HISTORICAL NOTES

2002 Orders

The October 31, 2002, order, in section (a), in the second sentence, added "or 16-506.

2003 Orders

The November 12, 2003, order amended the source note.

2010 Orders

The October 20, 2010, order rewrote the rule, which previously read:

"(a) Generally. The filing of pleadings and other papers with the court as required by these rules shall be made by filing them with the clerk of the court, except that a judge of that court may accept the filing, in which event the judge shall note on the papers the filing date and forthwith transmit them to the office of the clerk. No filing of a pleading or paper may be made by transmitting it directly to the court by electronic transmission, except pursuant to an electronic filing system approved under Rule 16-307 or 16-506.

"(b) Photocopies; Facsimile Copies. A photocopy or facsimile copy of a pleading or paper, once filed with the court, shall be treated as an original for all court purposes. The attorney or party filing the copy shall retain the original from which the filed copy was made for production to the court upon the request of the court or any party.

"Cross reference: See Rule 1-301(d), requiring that court papers be legible and of permanent quality.

"Source: This Rule is derived in part from the 1980 version of Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(e) and Rule 102 1 d of the Rules of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and is in part new.

2013 Orders

The May 1, 2013, order amended section (a) to allow direct electronic transmissions pursuant to the Rules in Title 20.

2015 Orders

The March 2, 2015, order changed the title of this Rule; required the clerk to note on the pleading or other item the date the clerk received the item, to specify how the date of filing of pleadings and other items is determined; and made stylistic changes.

2016 Orders

The June 6, 2016, order revised an internal reference in the Rule.

2018 Orders

The October 10, 2018 order amended the rule to permit a self-represented party confined in a certain facility to file certain pleadings and papers by a specified method under certain circumstances, added provisions pertaining to proof of the date of filing by the specified method, added a form Certificate of Filing by the specified method, and added a Committee note.

Committee note: This section recognizes that individuals who are confined in a correctional or detention facility usually have no direct access to the U.S. Postal Service and may be dependent on the facility to deliver outgoing mail to the Postal Service on behalf of the confined individual. The best the individual in that situation can do is to deposit the item in a mail collection receptacle provided by the facility or, if that be the practice of the facility, deliver it to an employee of the facility authorized by the facility to collect outgoing mail. The section also recognizes that the facility may not actually collect the mail on the day it is deposited and may not affix a date-stamp showing when the mail was collected. Proving the date that the item was actually deposited in the facility's mailbox may therefore be difficult, other than by an affidavit from the filer, which may not always be credible. In the event of any question or dispute, the court can consider, in addition to the affidavit and for such relevance it may have, the U.S.P.S post mark on the envelope, any internal date stamp applied by the facility, any written policy of the facility regarding outgoing mail from confined individuals that had been communicated to those individuals, and other relevant and reliable evidence.

See Rule 1-301(d), requiring that court papers be legible and of permanent quality.