After-hours online protective order petitions now count as filed the next business day

The Alaska Court System revised its electronic filing rules Oct. 6 so that a petition for a civil protective order submitted online after a court closes counts as filed on the next business day.

Protective orders can bar someone from contacting the person who asked for one. Alaska courts issue them in cases of domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault, according to the court system's protective order page.

The next-business-day rule already applied to eviction cases, known as forcible entry and detainer complaints. Nearly everything else filed online before 11:59 pm Alaska time counts as filed that day, under Administrative Bulletin No. 92.

Business hours vary by court location. The court system's protective order page says petitions can be filed during regular court hours and that the Anchorage court takes them at the Boney Courthouse from 8 am to 8 pm on weekdays and noon to 8 pm on weekends.

Administrative Director Stacey Marz signed the revision under authority the Alaska Supreme Court gave her office to adopt provisional eFiling rules. The bulletin says the rules are expected to change as eFiling moves to all courts and case types.

The online system, TrueFiling, is now used in every Alaska court location, according to the court system's eFiling page. Attorneys registered with the Alaska Bar must use it. People representing themselves must use it too unless they are in jail, have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, lack safe access to a computer, internet or email, can't get the help they need to eFile, or face a language barrier.

No proof is required for those exemptions, though some courts may require form TF-820 with a filer's first exempt filing. Exempt filers can file only by mail or in person, not by email.

Probate cases, including adoptions, estates and guardianships, move to eFiling Nov. 30, the court system says. Child in Need of Aid cases moved in August, Alaska News reported July 21.

The revised rules also say filers in child-in-need-of-aid and delinquency cases should serve documents as court rules require until TrueFiling can handle service in those cases. They allow cross-motions and motions with several related requests in one document, and require a subpoena and its supporting documents to be filed as a single document.