Md. Rule 20-501 (2026)

(a) Posting of Notices.

(1) Outage Onset Notice. In the event of an MDEC system outage, the State Court Administrator, as expeditiously as possible, shall notify each registered user by posting an MDEC outage notice on the Judiciary website or by other electronic means. The notice shall state the date and time of the onset of the outage.

(2) Outage Termination Notice. Upon the termination of the MDEC system outage, the State Court Administrator, as expeditiously as possible, shall notify each registered user by posting an MDEC outage termination notice on the Judiciary website or by other electronic means. The outage termination notice shall state the date and time of the termination of the outage.

(b) Effect of Notice.

(1) Electronic Submissions--Expiring Time Extended. If an MDEC system outage is posted for any portion of the same day that the time for filing a submission expires, the time to file the submission electronically is automatically extended until the first full day, other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, that an outage termination notice is posted.

(2) Paper Submissions--Accepted. If, during an MDEC system outage, the courthouse is otherwise open for business, a registered user may elect to timely file the submission in paper form.

Committee note: There may be circumstances in which the courthouse where an action is pending is closed or otherwise unable to accept electronic submissions. In that situation, a filer is still able to transmit a submission through the primary electronic service provider in the normal way, even though the court may be temporarily unable to act on it.

Cross reference: See Rule 20-106 (b) for exceptions to required electronic filing.

Source: This Rule is new.

Credits

[Adopted May 1, 2013, eff. July 1, 2013. Amended June 20, 2017, eff. Aug. 1, 2017; Nov. 13, 2024, eff. Jan. 1, 2025.]