NEWS FROM U.S. DISTRICT COURT
July 10, 2026

Mark your Calendar. The Court is partnering with the USD Law Review to host a symposium and law review publication highlighting several significant federal cases from the District of South Dakota/Dakota Territory. The symposium will be on Friday, September 25, 2026, at the University of Sioux Falls in the Salsbury Science Center. Immediately after the symposium, the Court is hosting an all-former federal law clerk reception at the Hotel on Phillips from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. If you plan to attend the reception, please email matt_thelen@sdd.uscourts.gov.

Top Filing Mistakes. We asked our deputy clerks which mistakes they see most often in CM/ECF among attorney filings, then asked them to rank those in order from 1 (most common) to 9 (least common). Below are the results.

1. Using the Motion to Continue event instead of Continuance Motion under 18:3161. Any time the Speedy Trial Act (18:3161) applies, the proper event to use is a Continuance Motion under 18:3161. The Motion to Continue event is used to continue sentencing hearings and deadlines, excluding any trial-related deadlines.
2. Failing to describe attached exhibits, leaving them as “Exhibit” or “Exhibit 1.” The Clerk’s Office will generally fix this as a one-time courtesy. If counsel continues to make this mistake, they will be instructed to docket a Notice of Filing Error and re-file the documents with proper descriptions.
3. Filing replies and failing to link to the underlying motion. By failing to do this, the reply will not populate when the court runs a motions report.
4. Filing memorandums and affidavits as attachments to motions rather than free standing documents that link to the motions. These should be separate docket entries.
5. Filing a motion without a proposed order in a Judge Kornmann case. An attached Proposed Order must accompany the motion. Refer to Judge Kornmann’s Standard Operating Procedures - Northern and Central Divisions.
6. Incorrectly filing motions to seal. Motions to seal can now be filed electronically with the motion as a public document. Include the Proposed Sealed Document(s) as an attachment to the motion. If the motion is to be filed under seal, it must be delivered to the Clerk’s Office with counsel’s original signature. It will not be filed until or unless the court enters an order allowing the sealed filing. Consider re-wording your motion to seal.
7. Filing a stipulation instead of a motion when anticipating a ruling. Except for one senior judge, these should be filed as motions, so they populate on the judge’s motions report.
8. Filing an answer, notice of appearance, or other document adding counsel to the case with more than one attorney’s electronic signature without filing a notice of appearance for each one. To receive notice, each attorney is required to log into their account and complete a Notice of Appearance.
9. PHV counsel using a /s/ signature. PHV counsel are not granted electronic filing access within the District of South Dakota. When signing pleadings, PHV counsel should never use a /s/ signature as it is not considered a valid signature.

For additional filing information, please review the CM/ECF User Manual and Administrative Procedures as well as the Local Rules and Orders.