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As many of you may have noticed since revisions to the statewide efiling portal took effect on August 20, 2012, there have been some popup error messages that occur after you enter the case number when you try to file on an existing case. These messages say "Case number not found" or "This is not a valid case number." These messages do not mean that the portal isn't working or that you have done anything wrong. What happened as a result of the portal upgrade was a communication issue between the portal and our local application, so that the portal isn't receiving case information sent back from our local application. We are working with our vendor to correct the issue, and appreciate your patience as we resolve the problems.
In the meantime, please click "OK" in the error message and proceed with your electronic filing. You can still verify the accuracy of the case number you entered by looking at the top of the Case Information tab. There you will see the case number in uniform case numbering format, like this: 372012CA000123. The county code for Leon is 37, followed by the case number 2012 CA 123. If this is correct, then you know that you are filing on the correct case.
As mentioned in a previous newsletter, the biggest portal change for filers on August 20, 2012 was the case information tab. Now the year auto-populates with 2012, so be sure to change this field if the case number year is different! Next you enter the case sequence number; namely, the "123" in 2012 CA 123. Last, the Court Type - CA, CC, CP, DP, or DR - is auto populated from the selection you made above in the Division area - Circuit Civil, County Civil, Probate, Dependency, or Domestic Relations. Once you have entered the case number, under that field, you will have to make a choice in Court Type selection if the Division includes more than one case type. For example, Probate includes Mental Health, Estates, and Guardianship; County Civil includes County Civil and Small Claims.
Next you will see a Party Identifier field. While this has been added in anticipation of criminal electronic filing, it can also be used for civil filings, when the case sequence number - the "123" in 2012 CA 123 - includes a letter in the sequence number such as 2012 CA 123B. For example, you might be filing in an eminent domain case, where there is a "parent" parcel and three "child" parcels. The main case is 2012 CA 123, but the separate parcels, handled as separate cases in the main case, are 2012 CA 123B, 2012 CA 123C, and 2012 CA 123D. If you were filing in the "D" case, you would put "D" in the Party Identifier field, followed by three zeros. The Branch Location field is for the branch locations in which you might file in larger counties where certain filings are done only at certain branch locations. This field does not apply in Leon County. When these last two fields are left blank, you will see %%% signs in the case number field at the top of the case information tab.
Finally, when you click Search (and once our fix is in place), the case information will be brought back from our local application and populate the case number and case type fields at the top. As it stands, clicking "OK" on the error message brings back the case number you typed in the case number field at the top as "372012CA000123%%%%%%", and the case type as "Not Available." Email notifications will contain "NOT FOUND" as the case number. We apologize for this, and hope to report very soon that electronic filing has returned to normal in Leon County.
If you have questions or concerns, please visit our website, www.clerk.leon.fl.us, (Online Services | Efile) to review our manuals - with contact information at the end - and videos. We will be updating the videos soon to incorporate the August 20, 2012 portal changes, so stay tuned for that. |
