Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Today's Election Day. Is my brief due today or tomorrow?

If you have a brief due in an Indiana state court today, it's actually not due until tomorrow. It's Election Day, and Election Day is a legal holiday among Indiana's state offices.

For example, Indiana Appellate Rule 25(A) states that any "legal holiday as defined by state statute, or a day the Office of the Clerk is closed during regular business hours" is a nonbusiness day. And Rule 25(B) says the last day of a period stated in the rules is counted in the computation of days "unless it is a non-business day. If the last day is a non-business day, the period runs until the end of the next business day."

Indiana Code § 1-1-9-1(a) lists "legal holidays within the state of Indiana for all purposes." Among them is "Election Day, the day of any general, municipal, or primary election." (Note that next week brings another holiday, "Veterans Day, November 11." And the holiday will be on either Friday or Monday when it falls on a weekend.