Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 125.03 (2026)
Manner of Service
Unless otherwise required by Rule 114.01, service may be electronic by use of the appellate courts' electronic filing system if required or permitted by court order, personal, or by U.S. mail. Personal service includes delivery of a copy of the document to the attorney or other responsible person in the office of the attorney, or to the party, if not represented by counsel, in any manner provided by Minn. R. Civ. P. 4.
Electronic service is complete upon confirmation from the appellate courts' electronic filing system that it has been accomplished. Service by U.S. mail is complete on mailing.
Whenever a party is required or permitted to do an act within a prescribed period after service and the party is served with the documents only by U.S. mail, 3 days shall be added to the prescribed period. If a document is served electronically or personally after 5:00 p.m. at the court's local time, 1 day shall be added to the prescribed period.
As permitted by Rule 6.01(a)(2) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, the time periods in this rule do not include intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays.
Personal service may be effected by use of a commercial courier service, and shall be effective upon receipt.
Service by facsimile or other electronic means other than as authorized or required by an order of the Minnesota Supreme Court is allowed only with the consent of the party to be served, and is effective upon receipt.
(Amended effective for appeals taken on or after January 1, 1992; amended effective January 1, 2009; amended effective July 1, 2014; amended effective January 1, 2020.)
Advisory Committee Comment - 2008 Amendment
Rules 125.01 and 125.03 are amended to make clear the intent of the existing rule: that service and filing "by mail" under the rules requires use of the U.S. mail. This clarification parallels a similar set of amendments to the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure. Compare Minn. R. Civ. P. 6.05 (amended in 2007 to specify U.S. mail) with Minn. R. Civ. P. 4.05 (historically requiring use of first-class mail). The rule also makes it clear that it is permissible to use Federal Express, UPS, or other commercial courier for both filing and service, but delivery by that means is treated as any other hand delivery, and effective only upon receipt. Additional time for response to service by these services is thus neither required nor provided for, because the response period begins to run at the time of receipt.
These rules are also amended to make it clear that neither service nor filing by facsimile are ordinarily allowed in the appellate courts. In exigent circumstances the courts may request that courtesy copies of papers be provided by facsimile, but originals must be filed as provided in Rule 125.01. Service by facsimile is not generally permitted by rule, but if a party agrees to be served by facsimile it is permissible under the amended rule and is effective upon receipt. This provision recognizes that service by facsimile may be cost-effective and convenient for motions, notices, and other papers; it is unlikely to be used for briefs and appendices. The scope of any agreement to consent to service by facsimile should be carefully defined; it will be the unusual appeal where the parties really want their agreement to extend to the briefs and any appendices. The extension of this provision to service "by other electronic means" is intended to permit service by electronic mail, again only where the party to be served has agreed to it for the type of document involved.