Jackson County Circuit Court Filing Rules

Criminal attorneys must file a written entry of appearance before any motion or court appearance and within three days after retention or appointment.

Failure to appear at a scheduled Case Management Conference may result in dismissal of the case.

The Pre-Trial Conference Form must identify what the parties have agreed upon and what remains in dispute.

For disputed jury instructions, the parties must submit separate proposed instructions and supporting legal briefing.

Each party must designate a lead attorney of record.

All trial exhibits offered by a person appearing by video conference must be filed with the court or hand-delivered to the assigned trial division three days before trial.

Proposed verdict directors must be filed with the court before the pretrial conference.

Dispositive motions filed fewer than 90 days before trial will be taken with the case unless the Court rules otherwise.

If no pre-trial conference date is set at the case management conference, the parties may contact the Division 8 Law Clerk to schedule one at least one month before trial.

Each party must serve and file objections to the other party’s deposition designations and provide counter-designations no later than 10 calendar days before trial.

The Court Administrator's Office must provide the notice summarizing Rules 68.12 and 68.13 to each pro se filer in a dissolution, post-dissolution, or other custody- or visitation-related proceeding.

The parties must serve and file with the court objections to the other party's counter-designations no later than 3 calendar days before trial.

Proposed jury instructions, both with and without MAI citations, must be emailed to the Law Clerk on the Friday before trial.

All pro se parties receive the scheduling order by U.S. mail.

Parties must serve the opposing parties with their page-and-line designations of deposition testimony at least 15 calendar days before trial.

Transmitting an original will to another court requires payment of certified-mail costs only.

A motion filed in forma pauperis must include an affidavit establishing that the movant cannot pay the costs of the proceedings.

E-mail may be used to contact the Law Clerk for scheduling matters.

Telephone conference calls should be scheduled in advance.

Emailing the judge directly is prohibited.

If WebEx cannot be accessed or technical difficulties occur, participants may join the hearing by telephone using the listed number and access code.

The Division 8 Law Clerk may be contacted to arrange courtroom equipment setup or answer questions about pretrial matters.

Unless the court allows otherwise, all exhibits must be numbered consecutively regardless of the offering party.

Letter designations for exhibits are reserved for the Court.

A proposed order must use Word or a Word-compatible format.

Jury instructions submitted by the State must be in Word format, double-spaced, and set in a 14-point font.

The parties must provide the Judge and Court Reporter with Witness and Exhibit Lists using the format specified on the Division 13 web page.

Written criminal continuance applications and accompanying documents must also be emailed, faxed, or hand-delivered to the division handling the case.

All proposed orders and judgments must be delivered electronically by email to the Division Law Clerk.

All parties must electronically file their Proposed Judgment and email a Word-format copy to the Division 8 Law Clerk no later than one day before trial.

Continuance motions must be filed electronically with a courtesy copy emailed to Division 9.

Every continuance motion must be filed electronically, with a courtesy copy e-mailed to Division 13 and the Law Clerk.

Trial de novo continuance applications generally must be filed and served by 3:30 p.m. on the Wednesday before trial, unless the cause arose afterward and could not reasonably have been known or discovered.

The parties may change the listed deadlines by agreement without court notice if the changes do not affect the pretrial conference or trial dates.

A continuance application must be filed by the Wednesday of the week before the case management conference or trial setting.

Parties' agreements to deviate from the scheduling order should be documented.

A continuance application must be filed on or before the Wednesday of the week before the case management or pretrial conference and comply with Local Rule 34.2.

Chambers courtesy copies of motions filed shortly before a court appearance should be e-mailed to Division 13 and the Law Clerk.

All parties must provide chambers copies of pleadings filed within two weeks of a hearing or trial.

A courtesy copy of each continuance motion must be emailed to the Division 9 email address.

The proposed order should be emailed to Division 8 chambers.

An original civil petition filed before a Circuit Judge must be accompanied by one additional copy beyond the copies required by Rule 3.3.1, but this requirement does not apply to original petitions filed in Associate Circuit Divisions.

Civil continuance pleadings collectively may not exceed three pages.

When a hearing is not required by statute or court rule, the Court ordinarily intends to rule on the motion pleadings without a hearing.

Except for motions for new trial, a motion must be served and filed simultaneously with brief written supporting suggestions, the authorities relied upon, and supporting affidavits to be considered.

A filed Video Testimony Information form is unavailable to the public unless the court orders public access.