eFiling Guidelines – General Information

The Stow Municipal Court eFiling Guidelines are intended for use as a quick reference for the preparation and easy entry of any filing. Filers must be registered with the Court and approved by the Clerk of Court before access will be granted to the eFiling website.

ALL attorneys/law firms filing CIVIL CASES are required to utilize eFiling for all new and subsequent submissions. The only exceptions are as follows:

  1. New Bank Attachments
  2. New Wage Garnishments
  3. Requests for alias service by the Secretary of State
  4. Writs of Restitution

Non-attorneys (pro se filers) are welcome to become registered eFilers, though participation use of the system is not required.

Before you get started, please be aware:

  1. An eFiler must be registered with the Court.
  2. Please allow 24 hours for registrations to be activated or pleadings to be reviewed.
  3. All motions, requests, and notices must be uploaded in .pdf format.
  4. Every motion also requires the submission of an Order, uploaded as a Word document (Civil only).
  5. An eFiler must have a credit card for payment submission. Stow Municipal Court does not accept payment by American Express or other debit card.
  6. New and subsequent filings are submitted using a secure, encrypted web portal. Filers are responsible for maintaining their passwords.
  7. When eFiling, the INFORMATION MUST BE TYPED IN CAPITAL LETTERS and not lower case or a combination of cases.
  8. The top page of an uploaded Complaint MUST be the first page of the complaint, not a cover letter, instructions, etc. The first page will receive an electronic timestamp which contains the case number, along with the date and time the filing was received.
  9. The eFiler assumes the responsibilities of any filer as specified in the Local Rules. This includes, but is not limited to, timely filing, fee assessments, and identity protection. The Clerk of Court reserves the right to deny or revoke any eFiling participant or organization at any time.
  10. A convenience fee of 4.0% will be assessed on each filing.
  11. If any filing is rejected, you will receive a generic email letting you know that your filing was rejected. To find out WHY it was rejected, you will need to go to the actual eFiling to read the Reviewer Comments and, if necessary or possible, resubmit.
  12. Your eFiled documents are automatically emailed/routed to all interested parties who are also registered to use the eFiling Portal. However, for criminal/traffic cases, routing is for convenience purposes only – you must still effect Service!!