NEWS FROM U.S. DISTRICT COURT
January 12, 2018
DISPOSITION OF EXHIBITS: You may have received notice that an Order for Disposition of Exhibits was filed in one of your cases. Unless there has been a substitution of counsel, it is your responsibility to respond if exhibits should NOT be destroyed, even if the case is closed. D.S.D. Civ. LR 43.1 F and Crim. LR 57.3 F are designed to ensure preservation of exhibits in cases of historical significance and to avoid destruction of exhibits in cases where future proceedings might occur.
WI-FI ACCESS CORRECTION: If you would like to use the District Court’s public wireless network inside one of the district courthouses, please contact the Clerk’s Office to obtain the username and password. To use your cellular or electronic device in the courtroom or any corridor on the floor on which a courtroom or jury room is located, you will need approval of the Court. Passwords change weekly.
CM/ECF FILING TIP OF THE MONTH - Attachments to Documents: Exhibits and attachments to a document electronically filed in CM/ECF (the main document) must each be scanned or converted to PDF separately and attached separately to the main document, with the following limited exceptions which should be scanned to PDF together as one document:
* Multiple letters of support filed in a criminal case; * Multiple victim impact statements filed in a criminal case;
* Multiple civil summonses filed in a shell case;
* An attachment with attachments (e.g., deposition transcript and deposition exhibits); and
* An appendix to an appeal brief.
CM/ECF User Manual at page 11.
In addition to scanning or converting exhibits and attachments to PDF and attaching most of them separately to the main document (see exceptions above), exhibits and attachments must also be properly described when they are electronically filed. “Exhibit A – Photo” and “Exhibit 2 - Letter signed by Shane Brown” are examples of properly described attachments. “Exhibit A” and “Exhibit 2” are examples of insufficiently described exhibits. Id at pages 11-12.