Changes to the Indiana Appellate Rules in January 2015

The Indiana Supreme Court has adopted several important changes to the Indiana Rules of Appellate Procedure effective January 1, 2015. I’ve summarized them below, sorted by topic and importance.

Rule 65. Opinions and Memorandum Decisions

·        Parties have fifteen days to request publication of an unpublished Court of Appeals opinion (decreased from thirty days)—65(B)

o   This was changed to reflect Court of Appeals practice. Apparently, judges were denying most motions filed after fifteen days.

o   Publication plays an important role in the Supreme Court’s consideration of whether to grant transfer.

·        Language referring to published opinions and unpublished opinions are changed to avoid redundancy and clarify the role of the official reporter—65(A)

o   Court of Appeals decisions that are not published remain uncitable in any court except as law of the case and similar purposes—65(A) (see 65(D))

o   The Court rejected the proposal to make Court of Appeals decisions citable but only as persuasive authority.

Rule 43. Form of Briefs and Petitions

·        Tables, charts, and similar materials are to be single spaced (but with at least 4 points between each line)—43(E)

o   Yes, briefs were rejected for single-spaced tables, though not consistently.

Changes related to Public Access (various rules)

·        Court Records are excluded from Public Access when trial court excludes them unless the Court on Appeal orders otherwise. 23(F)(2)

·        Court Records excluded from Public Access must be filed in compliance with Administrative Rule 9(G)(5) (Admin. Rule 9(G) has been entirely replaced, thought its filing requirements remain very similar. Appellate and trial courts now follow the same filing procedures where records are excluded.)—23(F)(3)

·        At oral argument, parties should refer to case and parties only as they appear in the C.C.S. where Court Records are excluded from Public Access—53(H)

·        Transcripts must comply with Administrative Rule 9(G) regarding excluded information—28(A)(9)(a),(b)

·        Parties may notify the trial court of material in the Transcript to be excluded until the Transcript is submitted to the Court on Appeal—28(A)(9)(c)

·        Once a Transcript is submitted to the Court on Appeal, parties may request exclusion of a Court Record in the Transcript from Public Access—28(A)(9)(d)

·        When the Transcript contains information that should be excluded, a Notice of Exclusion in line with Form App. 11‑4 [corrected to be 11‑3] should be filed—Form App. R. 11‑4 [corrected to be numbered 11‑3]

·        Court Reporter must comply with Admin. Rule 9(G) when exhibits are filed for in camera hearings and are accompanied by the required notice—29(C) (see Admin. Rule 9(G)(5)(a)(i)(b))

·        Directs the appellate Clerk to post public dockets in cases where all Court Records are excluded from Public Access in a manner to protect anonymity and privacy—9(J)

·        Each Court on Appeal should exclude parties’ and affected persons’ names where they are excluded under Admin. Rule 9(G)—65(F)

Notice of Appeal and appearances

·        Notice of Appeal and appearance forms add a certification of accurate contact information—Form App. R. 9-1; Form App. R. 16‑1

Rule 2. Definitions

·        Altered definitions of Case Record, Court Records, and Public Access to match those in Administrative Rule 9, changed references to newly defined terms throughout rules—2(N); 9(F)(6),(9),(J)

·        Added definition for Court Reporter, made references to court reporter capitalized throughout the rules—2(O); 3; 9(B),(G); 10(A),(B); 11(A); 12(B); 14(E); 14.1(B); 24(A); 28(A)(4),(8),(B); 30(A), (B), (C); App. B Standard 3, Standard 4

·        Changed definitions of crimes for case designations to match new criminal-sentencing statutes (e.g., FA = Class A Felony)—2(G)

Form App. R. 11-3

·        This form was originally added by the amendments but was deleted by a subsequent order

2016 Changes

·        Just a week after it handed down the order amending rules effective January 2015, the Court handed down an order amending several other rules. These changes are effective July 1, 2016.

·        These changes include shortening the time to arrange a Transcript, the time to prepare a Transcript, the time to seek an order compelling a trial clerk to act, the time all parties at the trial court must be served without an appearance, and the time to seek pauperis status.

·        Don’t confuse the two orders.

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