United States Courts
Western district of Missouri
District Court HighlightsRichardson Leaves Jefferson City in Good Hands Glenda began her service to the Central Division on Feb. 10, 1992. She spent the last three months working on a temporary assignment in Washington, D.C., to develop improvements for national programs and processes. Glenda was instrumental in the move from paper filing to CM/ECF, and she was active at a national level in mentoring other federal districts in their move to electronic filing. Her mentor courts were the districts of Maryland, Northern Indiana, Puerto Rico, Middle Tennessee, Nebraska and Eastern Virginia. During this transition, attorneys are in good hands as Glenda helped select and develop a tenured staff for the Jefferson City office. If you are in Jefferson City, please stop by and wish Glenda well.
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Join us in congratulating Glenda Richardson as she takes a new position as CM/ECF project manager for the Northern District of Texas. Glenda has served the Central Division for nearly 20 years, providing leadership expertise and an unparalleled dedication to attorneys and litigants.
| 1. | A review of the case opening video and/or the written materials found on our website prior to starting the case opening process will assure compliance with our procedures and will save you time and frustration. You can find those materials at http://www.mow.uscourts.gov/district/rules.html. |
| 2. | If you have questions after initiating the case opening process or believe you may have made an error, then contact the court. Please do not abandon the new case and try again, as this will cause duplication of cases. If it is after hours, you may contact one of the after-hours numbers available on our website at http://www.mow.uscourts.gov/after_hours.html |
| 3. | When opening a new case, you are given the opportunity to select the office to which the case should be assigned. Be sure to select the office based on Local Rule 3.1, which offers instructions on assigning a case to the proper division. If an incorrect division is chosen, the court will reassign the case and will also assign a judge from the proper division. Correct initial selection prevents delays. |
We hope these tips will improve your case opening experience. If you have any questions, our office is always happy to assist you.
CM/ECF―Submission of Proposed Orders and Summons
Beginning Monday, April 4, 2011, two new options for District Court cases will be added to the civil and criminal menus. The following is a brief description of these new options.
E-Mailing a Proposed Order
| 1. | To submit a proposed order, click the E-Mail Proposed Order link, which can be found on the civil events menu and the criminal events menu. |
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| Civil Events | Criminal Events |
| After clicking on the E-Mail Proposed Order link, the following screen will appear: |
| 2. | Select the judge assigned to the case. In criminal cases, the magistrate judge referred to the case should be selected for all pretrial matters. The Prisoner Pro Se link should be selected for all cases referred to that department. |
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- Note: To use this feature, ensure your Web browser is configured to use your primary e-mail application.
E-Mailing a Summons to be Issued
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| A summons, including those for cases assigned to the St. Joseph or Southwestern Divisions, can be issued by any of the offices listed above. | |
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| 3. | Complete the e-mail by including the case number and attaching the completed summons to be issued. |
CJA Guidelines Review
Have you ever finished a case and completed your CJA 20 voucher and discovered that the In Court work and Out of Court work exceed the current $9,700 statutory cap? What happens when this occurs? What am I required to do? 
The CJA Guidelines state the following:
In any case in which the total compensation claimed is in excess of the statutory case compensation maximum, counsel shall submit with the voucher a detailed memorandum supporting and justifying counsel’s claim that the representation given was in an extended or complex case, and that the excess payment is necessary to provide fair compensation.
The CJA Guidelines further state that a case is complex if the “legal or factual issues…are unusual, thus requiring the expenditure of more time, skill and effort by the lawyer than would normally be required in an average case,” and that a case is extended if “more time is reasonably required for total processing than the average case.”
A voucher that exceeds the statutory case compensation maximum requires review and approval of the presiding District Court judge as well as the chief 8th Circuit judge. In their consideration of the voucher presented, they will review the worksheets detailing the work done as well as the supporting memorandum justifying the claim that excess payment is necessary to provide fair compensation. When the analysis is complete, the judge will determine whether the claim for excess compensation has been met.
In addition to submitting a supporting memorandum, counsel can include form CJA 26―Supplemental Information Statement for a Compensation Claim in Excess of the Statutory Case Compensation Maximum. Form CJA 26―Guidance to Attorneys in Drafting the Memorandum Required for a Compensation Claim in Excess of the Case Compensation Maximum details helpful insight into preparing the required memorandum.
Links to these forms can be found at:
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Any questions regarding CJA may be directed to CJA Administrator Teresa Harrison, via e-mail to teresa_harrison@mow.uscourts.gov or via phone at 816-512-5066. You may also access the court’s website at http://www.mow.uscourts.gov/district/cja.html for general information and CJA vouchers and forms.