Lubbock County, Texas

Electronic Filing - Civil/Family

Lubbock County District Clerk, Electronic Filing Information - Civil/Family

The Lubbock County District Clerk began mandatory eFiling on July 1, 2014.  All civil and family related documents are required to be eFiled with very limited exceptions.  This office began permissive eFiling for criminal documents on April 1, 2017. Mandatory criminal eFiling began on January 1, 2018.  EFiling exceptions for civil and criminal documents are listed in the Supreme Court Rules.

To register for an approved e-filing service provider, please visit www.eFileTexas.gov.

eFile Support:

FAQS:

1. Case number format – how to search?  When searching for a civil or family law case, you will search using Lubbock County – District Clerk. You will use the following case number format: DC-2023-CV-XXXX (4 digit number sequence at the end) for civil cases, and DC-2023-FM-XXXX (4 digit sequence at the end) for family cases. You must use hyphens. For cases prior to August of 2021, you will use the following format with no hyphens or commas: 2015123456 or 2015123456A if it has a suffix. If you are not able to find a case, please contact our office at 806-775-1577 or email: agongora@lubbockcounty.gov
   
   

2. Initial Filings/New Cases, where to find my court designation? Due to how the case management system assigns a court, the court will not be assigned until after we accept your filing. Because the court is assigned after we accept, the clerk will not be able to type the court on the document itself. The court designation should populate in the filing/envelope details in the eFiling portal after the case is accepted. If you are subscribed to the Lubbock County Electronic Access System you can also view the court in that system or you can call our office to confirm court designation.   It is our hope that as our case management system and the eFiling portal evolve, the option to have the court field placed on the document itself will be available.
   
   

3. Lead Documents vs. Attachments?  The District Clerk's office has opted out of using the attachment feature.  Each document that needs file marked will need to be uploaded as a separate lead document.  On initial filings you can choose "Application" as the filing code for your case information sheet and service request form.

    

4. How to upload exhibits to my petition?  All exhibits/attachments to the petition should be combined as one lead document with that petition.  If you separate each exhibit as a separate lead document the filing will be returned so you can combine it as one PDF.

    

5. I forgot to attach a signature page or exhibit to my already accepted filing?  Once the clerk accepts a filing we are not able to alter or add to that document.  If a page or other attachment is left off your filing you will need to amend and resubmit.

    

6. What filing code do I use?  The filing codes that you see are mandated by the state - they are meant to be generic.  If you do not see one specific to what you are filing, use the closest and the clerk will update to the correct filing code upon acceptance.  Feel free to also contact our office at 806-775-1577 for clarification of filing codes.

    

7. How to submit proposed orders?  All proposed orders must be submitted in an envelope by itself using the "Proposed Order" filing code.  If the proposed order is being filed subsequent to a motion or petition, you will first submit your motion or petition, wait for that to be accepted then submit your proposed order by itself as a lead document.

    

8. My motion has a notice of hearing or order to appear within the motion.  How is this completed?  If you submit a motion that has a notice of hearing or order to appear within that document, that document will come over as a motion only upon acceptance.  Your motion is entered directly into our case management system and cannot be altered.  You will need to submit a separate notice of hearing or order to appear for us to forward to the court.

    

9. How to request Citation or other process through eFiling & pay for it?  You will need to complete a Civil Process Request (service request) form.  This form is located on our website under District Clerk Forms or you may contact our service clerk to get this form emailed to you, 806-775-1319.  This form will be uploaded as a lead document using the "Application" filing code on Initial/New Cases and the "Request" filing code on subsequent filings.  All issuance fees are located under optional services; you will select each one based on your need.

    

   • By default we will eServe all process issued back to the filing attorney unless another method of service is requested and paid for. 

   • If you would like a private process server to pick up the service packet in our office, you will need to pay for that service copy - $1.00/page of each document to be attached to the process.   To avoid this fee, you may clearly indicate that you will mail or physically bring us a service copy.

   • If you request service by certified mail, you will need to pay $1.00/page of each document to be attached to the process.   To avoid this fee, you may clearly indicate that you will mail or physically bring us a service copy.

   • If you request sheriff service, you will need to pay $1.00/page of each document to be attached to the process.   To avoid this fee, you may clearly indicate that you will mail or physically bring us a service copy.

    

10. I just received my signed file marked order, how do I request a certified copy?  Within 5 business days of your order being file marked, bring as many signed/file marked copies as you need certified to our main office, room 105 and our front counter clerks will certify.  After 5 business days you will need to contact our archives department to request a certified copy for $1.00/page:  dcarchives@co.lubbock.tx.us or 806-775-1322

     

11. My filing was returned for correction, will my original filing date be honored?  The only way we will know to honor the original filing date is if you tell us to in the resubmission.  You will need to clearly indicate in the filing comments that this filing is a resubmission and give us the previous envelope # and filing date/ time.

     

12. My filing was returned for correction, will I be charged for that envelope?  If an envelope is returned for correction "rejected", no fees are collected by our office.  When we reject the envelope it cuts that transaction preventing the clerk from processing that envelope any further.  Depending on your financial institution, those funds could be pre-authorized/held for up to 3-5 business days - we have heard from some filers that it takes up to 2 weeks.  You will need to contact your financial institution to have this pre-authorization removed if it is an issue.  This does not mean that we are holding these funds or charging them from our office.  Generally we have seen these pre-authorizations being an issue if you use your regular checking account or bank card as your payment account vs. a standard credit card. 

     

13. Criminal eFiling?  The Lubbock County District Clerk’s office began permissive eFiling for criminal documents on April 1, 2017. Mandatory criminal eFiling began on January 1, 2018.  Exceptions are listed in the Supreme Court Rules. 

14. Documents filed under seal pursuant to a protective order?  If filed, must be filed over the counter or by mail in a sealed envelope clearly marked:
    
    

    "THIS ENVELOPE CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS COVERED BY A PROTECTIVE ORDER OF THE COURT AND IS SUBMITTED UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO THAT PROTECTIVE ORDER." 

 The www.eFileTexas.gov website has useful information about mandatory e-Filing schedules, EFSPs, active courts and frequently asked questions.