CLERK OF COURT - GENERAL/AUTHORITY

Rule No: 
5003-1

 

(a)    Delegation of Ministerial Orders.  The clerk of court and such deputies as the clerk of court may designate are authorized to sign and enter without further direction the following orders, which are deemed to be of a ministerial nature:

                         (1)          orders on motions and applications of the type described in Fed. R. Civ. P. 77, except that the clerk of court is not authorized to grant orders or judgments for default;

                         (2)          orders granting applications for payment of filing fees in installments and fixing the number, amount, and dates of payment;

                         (3)          orders denying applications for payment of filing fee in installments if the debtor or joint debtor have commenced a bankruptcy case within 8 years before the date of the filing of the current petition, or have a pending case, in which filing fees are owed to the court;

                         (4)          orders dismissing electronically filed petitions that do not provide for payment of the filing fee as set forth in Local Bankruptcy Rule 1006-1(a);

                         (5)          orders dismissing voluntary petitions filed electronically without the representation of the debtor’s or joint debtor’s original signature as required by Local Bankruptcy Rule 5005-1(d)(2);

                         (6)          orders dismissing an individual debtor’s voluntary petition filed electronically that is not accompanied by the debtor(s)’s signed Your Statement About Your Social Security Numbers (Official Form B 121);

                         (7)          orders closing cases without discharge where the debtor failed to complete an instructional course concerning personal financial management as required by 11 U.S.C. § 727(a)(11);

                         (8)          orders discharging a trustee and closing a case after such case has been fully administered;

                         (9)          orders reopening cases that have been closed due to administrative error;

                         and

                         (10)        orders requiring debtors to file amended schedules in converted cases.

(b)          Text Only Docket Orders.  The clerk of court may use Text Only Docket Orders for any of the ministerial orders authorized above.  A Text Only Docket Order entered by the clerk of court is an order or judgment electronically entered on the case docket without an attached document and is as official and binding as if the clerk of court had signed a document containing the text.  A Text Only Docket Order signed and entered by the clerk of court will so state in the text of said docket entry.  A Text Only Docket Order, together with the Notice of Electronic Filing, shall constitute the evidence of an order.

(c)          Administrative Regulations.  The clerk of court is authorized to promulgate regulations governing administrative matters, including the submission of forms, content and format of creditor mailing lists, mode of payment of filing fees, and disposition of records.  Such regulations shall be available for public reference, and shall be published in such publications and at such intervals as the clerk of court deems appropriate.                                                           

(d)          Custody and Disposition of Exhibits and Depositions.   Local Rules W.D.  Wash. LCR 79(g) controls the custody of exhibits and depositions.