Shelby County Court of Common Pleas, General and Domestic Relations Divisions Filing Rules

In civil cases, the caption of an original complaint or specified related complaints must state the plaintiffs’ and defendants’ addresses, using “unknown” when an address is unknown.

An electronically filed document requiring a fee may be rejected if the filer has not complied with the court’s fee-payment mechanism.

If a system error prevents receipt, the Court may, upon satisfactory proof, order the document filed as of its submission date.

Registered Users must use the CMS to file documents electronically and may do so at any time and from any location.

Certified mail in a proceeding involving title to real estate must be marked for delivery restricted to the addressee.

Documents requiring an original signature, including affidavits and other notarized documents, must be e-filed as PDF files.

A sealed filing requires a court-approved motion and proposed order identifying the requested access level, and the documents sought to be sealed must not be attached to the motion.

The Court may grant a continuance of the trial date only under special circumstances.

Counsel are encouraged to explore discovery matters informally with opposing counsel before filing discovery demands, motions, applications, or protective-order requests.

A facsimile filing may not exceed 20 pages.

The Court will disregard correspondence that does not comply with the rule on copies of correspondence.

Discovery demands, replies, interrogatories, depositions, and other discovery materials must be held and not filed with the Clerk until needed for trial.