The clerk of court shall direct the day-to-day operation of the clerk’s office pursuant to the provisions of the Ohio Revised Code.  The maintenance of the records of this court shall be the primary responsibility of the clerk of court and his/her management staff, department heads, and unit supervisors.  The clerk of court shall establish, maintain, store and reproduce, wherever practicable, all of the official records of this Court.

The clerk shall, therefore, generally exercise authority over the policy, management, administration and function of that office.  However, the court, by majority vote, may rescind, modify or void any action taken by the clerk in order to advance the interest of judicial efficiency and justice of the Cleveland Municipal Court as an institution.

The administrative judge shall have full responsibility and control over the administration, docket and calendar of this court and shall develop accounting and auditing systems for the purpose of case management within the court and the office of the clerk of court.  These systems shall be so designed as to ensure the accuracy and completeness of all reports required by the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio. 

The administrative judge may issue orders directed to the clerk on minor administrative matters seeking merely incidental administrative details concerning matters that relate to case control and case disposition without a majority vote of the judges

The provisions of this local rule are adopted under Crim. R. 12(B).

Pleadings and other papers may be filed with the Clerk of Court by facsimile transmission to 216-664-4299 subject to the following conditions:

1. DEFINITIONS
   As used in these rules, unless the context requires otherwise.
   
   1. A “facsimile transmission” means the transmission of a source document by a facsimile machine that encodes a document into optical or electrical signals, transmits and reconstructs the signals to print a duplicate of the source document at the receiving end.
   2. A “facsimile machine” means a machine that can send and receive a facsimile transmission.
   3. “Fax” is an abbreviation for “facsimile” and refers, as indicated by the context, to facsimile transmission or to a document so transmitted.
   4. “Source document” means the document transmitted to the court by facsimile machine/system.
2. APPLICABILITY

   These rules apply to criminal and traffic proceedings in the Cleveland Municipal Court.

   These rules do not apply to civil, small claims, BMV appeals or expungement proceedings.  In these proceedings no facsimile transmission of documents will be accepted.

   The following documents will not be accepted for fax filing: Appeals, Motions to Seal the Record, Administrative License Appeals, 12-Point Suspension Appeals or any pleading or document requiring a filing fee.

3. ORIGINAL FILING

   A document filed by fax shall be accepted and treated as the effective original by this court for all purposes.  The person making a fax filing need not file any source document with the Clerk of Court but must, however, maintain in his or her records and have available for production on request by the court the source document filed by fax, with original signatures as otherwise required under the applicable rules, together with the source copy of the facsimile cover sheet used for the subject filing.

   The source document filed by fax shall be maintained by the person making the filing until the case is closed and all opportunities for post-judgment relief are exhausted.

4. ELECTRONIC TRANSMITTAL OF CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS, SUBPOENAS AND BONDS

   The Clerk of Court may accept the filing of criminal complaints by electronic transmittal.

   This court may serve subpoenas by facsimile to the Cleveland Police Districts and may transmit bonds by facsimile to defendants in the custody of the Cleveland Police Department.  The executed bonds may be returned to the Clerk of Court by facsimile.  The original facsimile bond signed by the defendant shall be returned by the Cleveland Police District to the Clerk of Court at the end of the business day on which the bond was assigned.

5. COVER PAGE
   1. The person filing a document by fax shall also provide therewith a cover page containing the following information:
      1. the name of the court;
      2. the title of the case;
      3. the case number
      4. the assigned judge, if any;
      5. the title of the document being filed (e.g. Defendant Jones’ Answer to Amended   Complaint; Plaintiff Smith’s response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss);
      6. the date of transmission;
      7. the transmitting fax number
      8. an indication of the number of pages included in the transmission, including the cover page;
      9. if a judge or case number has not been assigned, state that fact on the cover page;
      10. the name, address, telephone number, fax number, Supreme Court registration number, if applicable, and email address of the person filing the fax document if available; and
      11. if applicable, a statement explaining how costs are being submitted.
   2. If a document is sent by fax to the Clerk of Court without the cover page information listed above, the Clerk may, at its discretion;
      1. enter the document in the Case Docket and file the document; or
      2. deposit the document in a file of incomplete, illegible or otherwise spoilated faxed documents with a notation of the reason for the non-filing; in this instance, the document shall not be considered filed with the Clerk of Court.
   3. The Clerk of Court shall inform the sending party of an incomplete, illegible or otherwise spoilated fax filing and the reason therefore, within one business day.
6. SIGNATURE
   1. A party who wishes to file a signed source document by fax shall either:
      1. fax a copy of the signed source document; or
      2. fax a copy of the document without the signature but with the notation “/s/” followed by the name of the signing person where the signature appears in the signed source document.
   2. A party who files a signed document by fax represents that the physically signed source document is in that party’s possession or control.
7. EXHIBITS
   1. Each exhibit to a facsimile produced document that cannot be accurately transmitted via facsimile transmission for any reason must be replaced by an insert page describing the exhibit and why it is missing.  Unless the court otherwise orders, the missing exhibit shall be filed with the court, as a separate document, not later than five (5) court days following the filing of the facsimile document.  Failure to file the missing exhibits as required by this paragraph may result in the court striking the document and/or exhibit.
   2. Any exhibit filed in this manner shall be attached to a cover sheet containing the caption of the case which sets forth the name of the court, title of the case, the case number, name of the judge and the title of the exhibit filed (e.g., Plaintiff Smith’s Notice of Filing Exhibit “G” to Plaintiff Smith’s Response to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss), and shall be signed and served in conformance with the rules governing the signing and service of pleadings in this court.
8. TIME OF FILING
   1. Subject to the provisions of these rules, all documents sent by fax and accepted by the Clerk shall be considered filed with the Clerk of Court as of the date and time the Clerk time-stamps the document received, as opposed to the date and time of the fax transmission.  The office of the Clerk of Court will be deemed open to receive facsimile transmission of documents on the same days and at the same time the court is regularly open for business.
   2. Fax filings may NOT be sent directly to the court for filing but may only be transmitted directly through the facsimile equipment operated by the Clerk of Court.
   3. The Clerk of Court may, but need not, acknowledge receipts of a facsimile transmission.
   4. The risks of transmitting a document by fax to the Clerk of Court shall be borne entirely by the sending party.  Anyone using facsimile filing is urged to verify receipt of such filing by the Clerk of Court through whatever technological means are available.
9. FEES AND COSTS
   No additional fee shall be assessed for facsimile filings.
10. LENGTH OF DOCUMENT
    Facsimile filing shall not exceed ten pages in length.  The filer shall not transmit service copies by facsimile.
11. EFFECTIVE DATE
    The local rules in this section shall be effective immediately and shall govern all proceedings in actions brought after they take effect and it also applies to further proceedings in pending actions, except to the extent that, in the opinion of the court, their application in a particular action pending on the effective date would not be feasible or would work an injustice, in which event, the former procedure applies.