IN RE AMENDMENT TO RULE 1.4(c) OF THE RULES OF THE OKLAHOMA SUPREME COURT

IN RE AMENDMENT TO RULE 1.4(c) OF THE RULES OF THE OKLAHOMA SUPREME COURT
2007 OK 96
Case Number: SCAD-2007-73
Decided: 12/11/2007

THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA

NOTICE: THIS OPINION HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE PERMANENT LAW REPORTS. UNTIL RELEASED, IT IS SUBJECT TO REVISION OR WITHDRAWAL.

In re Amendment to Rule 1.4(c) of the Rules of the Oklahoma Supreme Court,

¶0 Order Amending Oklahoma Supreme Court Rule 1.4(c)

¶1 The Court hereby amends Oklahoma Supreme Court Rule 1.4(c), 12 O.S.2001 Ch. 15, App. 1.

¶2 Okla.Sup.Ct.R. 1.4(c) is amended to read as follows.

(c) Petition in Error, Petition for Review of an Order of the Workers' Compensation Court, Petition for Certiorari to the Court of Civil Appeals, Costs, and Mailing.

A petition in error, petition for review, or petition for certiorari may be filed either by delivery to the Clerk of the Supreme Court, or by deposit with the United States Postal Service, or by delivery with a third party commercial carrier, and addressed to the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Room B-2, State Capitol Bldg., 2300 N. Lincoln, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105, or Clerk of the Supreme Court, P.O. Box 53126, Oklahoma City, OK 73152. See Rule 1.4(e). When a petition is delivered to the Clerk for filing it must be delivered at the Office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court during regular office hours, Monday through Friday between 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M., state holidays excluded, at the State Capitol.

When a petition is delivered to the Clerk by the United States Postal Service, the date of mailing as shown by the postmark or other proof from the post office, such as the date stamped by the post office upon a certified mail receipt, will be deemed to be the date of filing the petition. Whitehead v. Tulsa Public Schools, 1998 OK 71, 968 P.2d 1211. When a petition is mailed through the United States Postal Service, a postmark date from a privately owned postage meter or commercial postage meter label will not suffice as proof of the date of mailing and, in the absence of other proof of date of mailing from the United States Postal Service, a document bearing only such a postmark will be deemed filed upon date of delivery to the Clerk. The Court may require the party or person who mailed a petition to the court to provide proof from the United States Postal Service showing date of mailing.

When a petition is delivered to the Supreme Court Clerk by a third-party commercial carrier, the petition must be received by the carrier from the party on or before the last day the petition may be timely filed with the Clerk, and the petition must be received by the carrier for delivery to the Supreme Court Clerk within three calendar days. The date the third-party commercial carrier receives the petition for delivery to the Supreme Court Clerk shall be deemed the date of filing with the Clerk when the third-party commercial carrier provides documentation with delivery to the Clerk showing the date the petition was received by the carrier. If the third-party commercial carrier does not provide the date the document was received by the carrier, the Court will require the person who sent the petition to submit a notarized statement or declaration in compliance with 12 O.S.Supp.2002 § 426 setting out the details of the filing and stating that the filing took place on a particular date within the permitted time. Documentation of the date a petition is received by a third-party commercial carrier shall be by a document showing the actual date of receipt, and the date of receipt must be affixed or printed on the document by the third-party commercial carrier. A date of receipt on a document that may be affixed or printed thereon by anyone other than a third-party commercial carrier shall not be used as documentation of date of delivery to the carrier for the purposes of Rule 1.4.

The date a petition is mailed or date of receipt by a third-party commercial carrier shall be deemed the date of its filing only when it is mailed or received by the third-party commercial carrier in accordance with this rule, and when it is properly addressed to the Clerk of the Supreme Court and contains sufficient postage. Where a petition is mailed or delivered by third-party commercial carrier following the requirements of this rule, the petition shall not be deemed filed on the date of mailing or receipt by the commercial carrier unless the full amount of the required cost deposit for filing the petition, or properly executed pauper's affidavit, has also been mailed or received by the commercial carrier, conforming to the same requirements for mailing or receipt by the commercial carrier, or such cost deposit or affidavit is actually delivered to the Court Clerk within the time period for perfecting the appellate procedure. Matter of K. L. F., 1994 OK 66, 878 P.2d 1067; Okla.Sup.Ct.R. 1.23.

¶3 The amendments to Okla.Sup.Ct.R. 1.4(c) made by this Order shall take effect February 1, 2008. The amendments shall apply to petitions mailed by U. S. Postal Service on or after that date and petitions received on or after that date by a third-party commercial carrier for delivery to the Court Clerk. This Order shall be published three times in the Oklahoma Bar Journal.

¶4 DONE BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT IN CONFERENCE THIS 6th DAY OF DECEMBER, 2007.

/S/ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE

¶5 EDMONDSON, V.C.J., OPALA, KAUGER, COLBERT, REIF, JJ. - Concur