Miss. Elec. Ct. P. 1
In those chancery, circuit, and county courts which have adopted these procedures by local rule, the filing of court pleadings and documents is carried out electronically through the Mississippi Electronic Courts (MEC) system. This system permits properly registered attorneys to file documents and to view and search court records from any location over the Internet, twenty-four hours a day. Non-attorneys and non-registered attorneys may read only documents in the system by utilizing PAMEC. The following information explains the court procedures applicable to system use. This information is available on the MEC web site, mec.ms.gov, and should be referenced there for most recent revisions or modifications.
The following procedures govern the utilization of the system.
Section § 9-1-53 of the Mississippi Code authorizes electronic filing in conjunction with Rule 5 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 1.16 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Practice, and Rule 1.13 of the Uniform Chancery Court Rules. These rules authorize the courts to establish practices and procedures for the serving, filing, signing, and verification of documents by electronic means. The following procedures shall govern use of MEC unless, due to extraordinary circumstances in a particular case, a judge determines in the exercise of discretion that it is appropriate to deviate from these procedures in the interest of justice.
The system permits attorneys to file documents with the court from any location over the Internet. While all parties, including those proceeding pro se, may register to receive "read only" public access accounts through PAMEC, only registered attorneys, as officers of the court, are permitted to file electronically.
These procedures govern use of MEC and are not intended as a technical guide for the use of the system. Information regarding the equipment needed to participate in MEC, as well as information on training and access to computer-based tutorials, can be obtained from the MEC website, mec.ms.gov.
The term "case" means an action, cause, or suit contested before a court of law or equity. In criminal matters, a case begins with an indictment, also known as a true bill, charging affidavit, or bill of information, or initial filing of written notice of appeal from municipal or justice court. When the term case is used in the realm of civil law, the case begins with the initial filing. In MEC all cases must be initiated with a conventional filing.
The term "conventional filing" means presentation to the clerk's office of a hard copy of a document which cannot or should not be filed electronically. The hard or paper copy should be accompanied by an electronic storage device with the document in a text PDF file(s), if possible. If not, the document will be scanned for inclusion as an image PDF unless otherwise provided in these procedures. The "image" is not a searchable document; a text PDF is a searchable document.
The term "document" shall include pleadings, motions, exhibits, declarations, affidavits, memoranda, papers, orders, notices, and any other filing by or to the court, whether or not the document is electronic or a hard or paper copy. "Hard copy" and "paper copy" are used interchangeably in these procedures.
"Electronic filing" means uploading a document in PDF format directly from the registered user's computer, to file that document in the court's case file using the court's Internet-based system. Sending a document or pleading to the court via e-mail or facsimile does not constitute "electronic filing."
The "E-Mail Address of Record" is the Internet e-mail address of each party or attorney in the case as maintained by MEC.
The "Events List" identifies the categories of documents which may be filed in the system.
The term "MEC" refers to the Mississippi Electronic Courts system and is used interchangeably with the term "system".
An "MEC Filing User" is an attorney who is registered to use the MEC; a "PAMEC User" is a person only entitled to read the documents filed.
A "Notice of Electronic Filing" (NEF) is generated automatically by MEC upon completion of an electronic filing. The Notice of Electronic Filing when emailed to the e-mail addresses of record in the case acts as the proof of service.
The term "PAMEC" refers to Public Access to Mississippi Electronic Courts, the public access component of MEC which is an automated public service that allows non-MEC-registered attorneys and non-attorney public users to obtain case and docket information from courts which have implemented MEC.
The term "PDF" refers to Portable Document Format. A PDF document allows anyone to open the converted document across a broad range of hardware and software, with layout, format, links, and images intact.
"Restricted access" or "limited access" means that only eligible attorneys registered with MEC and court staff shall have internet access to the documents in the electronic case files.
Unless otherwise permitted by these administrative procedures or unless otherwise authorized by the assigned judge, all documents submitted for filing in courts which have implemented MEC shall be filed electronically by the attorney or shall be scanned and uploaded to the system by the clerk's office. Parties proceeding pro se shall not file electronically unless said pro se party is an attorney in good standing and admitted to practice in the court which has implemented MEC.
Miss. Elec. Ct. P. 1
December 2008; rev. September 2009; rev. May 2012, eff. 7/1/2012; rev. June 2016, eff. 6/16/2016; rev. November 2016, eff. 12/1/2016; amended October 17, 2018, effective 10/25/2018.