Posted: Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Effective July 1, 2014, attorneys and self-represented litigants may no longer submit appendices to briefs in any appellate proceedings. This is due to an amendment to the Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure (RCAP) promulgated on Feb. 28, 2014, by order of the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Currently, appendices consist of copies of district court documents that filers have cited in their briefs. Effective July 1, RCAP 128.03 will govern how to cite to documents in the district court records.

Since June 27, 2014, all documents filed in the district (trial) courts have been given a unique document index number that is automatically added to the registers of actions for cases. This change will provide a unique identifier for each document in the electronic trial court record so that judges, litigants, and court staff have a convenient and consistent way to cite documents.

Below is an example of how the index numbers appear in the trial court record:

There is currently no rule mandating or authorizing the use of the index numbers. Until the Court amends the RCAP or issues an order, litigants should follow 128.03, and may also include the index numbers in their briefs.

Registers of actions for district (trial) court cases display on Minnesota Public Access (“MPA”), both at courthouses and remotely (http://www.mncourts.gov/default.aspx?page=1927). However, only certain public cases are available remotely. If a member of the public needs a register of actions for a case that does not display remotely, that request needs to be made at the courthouse.  Fees may apply.