DC SUPERIOR COURT EFILING

About Superior Court eFiling*

Electronic filing (“eFiling”) and electronic service (“eService”) provide the public with a fast, efficient, and cost-effective way to file and serve documents.

Generally, parties with attorneys must eFile and eServe. Parties without attorneys have the option to eFile, but it is not required. If you choose not to eFile, you should file your documents in person at the clerk's office of the division or branch that is handling your case. If you decide to eFile and don’t have an attorney, you are consenting to receive filings by eService. All eFilings must be submitted in a PDF format.

*eFiling is required in most Civil Actions Branch, Criminal Division, Criminal Domestic Violence Division, Probate, and Tax Division cases. Parties represented by counsel must eFile, unless specifically excluded by administrative order (organizations that hold a 501(c)(3) IRS tax status).

A note on fee waivers: You no longer need to email the fee waiver and wait for approval before submitting the complaint or subsequent attachment. When eFiling in the new system, you will submit the fee waiver and other filing in the same eFiling envelope under separate filing codes within that envelope. Select the non-fee option when submitting each document.

Changes to DC Superior eFiling as of October 31, 2022

D.C. Superior Court eFiling has moved to DC Superior Court eFileDC for the following case types:

• Civil Division cases, including Landlord and Tenant and Small Claims
• Civil cases in the Tax Division
• Probate Division
• Office of the Auditor Master (NEW)

For all other case types, continue to use CaseFileXpress / File & Serve Xpress.

Please see specific information below for eFiling in a particular division:

Civil | Criminal | Family | Office of the Auditor Master | Probate | Tax

Civil Division

The filer must complete all fields in the summons, except for the date and case number.

Civil Actions Branch

Parties represented by attorneys must eFile all complaints and petitions, except those seeking enforcement of foreign judgments or recognition of foreign-country judgments. A party who is eFiling a complaint or petition must include a Civil Actions Branch information sheet and a prepared summons for each defendant. A party who is eFiling in a Title 47 case must also include a proposed order of publication.

Landlord and Tenant Branch

A party who is eFiling a complaint must submit a copy of the complaint and a summons for each defendant.

Small Claims and Conciliation Branch

A party represented by an attorney must eFile a statement of claim, except one seeking enforcement of a foreign judgment or recognition of a foreign-country judgments.

A party who is eFiling a statement of claim must submit a small claims information sheet and must indicate the requested method of service on the information sheet. An application for approval of special process server in a small claims case may be submitted with the statement of claim, or as a subsequent filing.

Criminal Division

Notice on Criminal Filings (For Attorneys) - Updated June 3, 2024

Recently, filings such as ex parte motions for subpoenas were erroneously being eFiled in the underlying case. Per business procedure, these pleadings must be housed in a separate Criminal Special Proceedings (CSP) case.

File the following by email to CriminalBenchWarrants [at] dcsc.gov, not via the eFiling (CaseFileXPress) website:

• Writ Ad Testificandum
• Writ Ad Subjiciendum
• Subpoena for Medical/Personal Records
• Ex Parte Motion for Grand Jury Records
• Rule 40 Papers
• Interstate Agreement on Detainers
• Ex Parte Subpoenas Duces Tecum

For recently erroneously filed pleadings, please be aware of the following:

• If staff determine that a filing in an underlying case should go to Special Proceedings, staff will reject the filing and will be forwarded to the Special Proceedings Branch so that the staff there can create the CSP case.
• Once processed, the attorney will get notification with the CSP case number from Special Proceedings.
• The judge in the underlying case will be assigned to the CSP case.

Please email James.Ellis [at] dcsc.gov you have questions.

Family Division

Domestic Relations Branch

All parties (attorneys and self-represented parties) must eFile all Adoption filings, including the petition.

Office of the Auditor Master

The following documents may not be eFiled:
Accounts, Financial statements, receipts, and all documents submitted in response to the Order for Production of Documents. These documents must be submitted by email to AMFinancialBox [at] DCSC.gov, or delivered in person by appointment.

Probate Division

The following may not be eFiled and must be filed in paper with the clerk:

• Wills and codicils.
• Bonds.
• Confidential Information Form or Form 26 (personal identification information).
• Form 27 (Financial Information).
• Initial pleadings that open a new Probate Division case and filings that require payment of court costs that vary in amount (e.g. new decedent estate cases) or require deposits into the Estate Deposit Account.
• Supporting documents (for Inventories and Accounts) that contain financial information.
• Subpoenas for medical records and foreign subpoenas.
• Fee waivers (formerly known as applications to proceed in forma pauperis).
• Petitions to Re-Open the Administration of an Estate prior to 2005.
• Requests for Extension of Personal Representative’s Appointment in a closed case where bond or waivers must be filed.

Tax Division

A party who is eFiling a petition must submit an addendum to the petition identifying related cases, if applicable. After the eFiled petition is accepted by the clerk’s office, the petitioner, the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, and the Office of Tax and Revenue will be served with a completed “petition package,” which includes the petition (reflecting the assigned case number and judge) and the Initial Order and Notice of Service and Mediation Procedures.

This page was last updated Nov. 22, 2024.