Office of Adjudications

E-Mail Filing and Service of Documents Policy

Introduction

The DEEP Rules of Practice prohibit electronic filing or service without the consent of the Hearing Officer, the parties and intervenors. Regs., Conn. State Agencies §22a-3a-6(b)(9). This Policy is intended to permit electronic filing and service and establish rules for the efficient use of electronic resources available to the department and other participants in adjudicatory proceedings.

Policy

Unless otherwise directed by the Hearing Officer, all documents or other materials may be filed and served by email. The Hearing Officer may reject filings that do not conform to these requirements

Filings:  

• Original petitions, answers or other requests for hearing must be mailed or delivered to the Office of Adjudications within 10 days of the date of electronic transmission.
• Except for routine correspondence or motions less than several paragraphs long, filings must be attached to an email and not contained in the body of the transmitting email.
• Filings must be in pdf or another format acceptable to the Hearing Officer.
• Documents that cannot be converted and attached to an email shall be mailed or delivered to the Hearing Officer and those requiring service.
• Unless otherwise required by the Hearing Officer, or by agreement of the parties, the email message or attachment will constitute the official record of the filing.

Signatures:

• Hard copies of all documents shall be signed and maintained by the sender and made available for inspection at the request of the Hearing Officer or any other party.
• Documents submitted by email must include an electronic (e.g.,/s/ typed name) or scanned signature. Such signatures will have the same effect as an original handwritten signature. General Statutes §1-272(a). Documents that require signatures of more than one party may be filed by email; separate signature pages may be filed with the document. The original hard copy of the document must be maintained by one of the signatories unless submission of hard copy is otherwise required.

Certificate of Service:

• Pleadings attached to an email shall include a certification of service by email. Regs., Conn. State Agencies §22a-3a-6(b)(5)  Original, printed documents held by the sender shall contain the signed certification of service. 

Filing Date:

• Documents received by the Hearing Officer and all parties and intervenors by 4:30 pm will be considered filed that day. Documents received after 4:30 pm or on a day when the office is officially closed will be considered filed on the next business day.
• The time for filing responsive pleadings will be seven days from the date the pleading is considered filed.

Consent

I accept the terms and requirements of this Policy and consent to file and receive documents as authorized by this Policy. Where service is required to be made by certified mail or personal delivery, I agree that email service satisfies the requirement for personal delivery.