Rule 3. Application Papers
Effective January 1, 2021
(A) Petition.
All petitions for writs of mandamus or prohibition shall be verified or affirmed and shall state facts showing clearly that:
(1) the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over the matter as an original action;
(2) the petition is made expeditiously after the jurisdiction of the respondent court became an issue;
(3) the respondent court has exceeded its jurisdiction or the respondent court has failed to act when it was under a duty to act;
(4) the absence of jurisdiction of the respondent court or the failure of the respondent court to act when it was under a duty to act has been raised in the respondent court by a written motion filed therein and brought to the attention of the respondent judge, and the written motion has been denied or not ruled on timely - except in cases involving a change of venue from the judge or county where these requirements do not apply;
(5) the denial of the petition will result in extreme hardship; and
(6) the remedy available by appeal will be wholly inadequate.
The petition shall also include a concise, verbatim statement of the precise relief sought.
Original action petitions that do not include the six enumerated items and a statement of precise relief shall be rejected by the Chief Justice or Acting Chief Justice.
(B) Brief.
The Relator shall submit a separate supporting brief with Relator's petition. The Relator shall set forth verbatim in the brief, indented and single-spaced, the relevant parts of all cases, statutes, and other authorities relied upon, but need not conform the brief otherwise to the rules applicable to appellate briefs. The brief need not be bound. Neither a petition nor a brief shall exceed ten (10) pages or 4,200 words, as confirmed by a word count certificate.
(C) Record of Proceedings—Certification.
At the time the Relator submits the original action petition, the Relator shall submit a record of the respondent court proceedings.
(1) The record shall contain copies of all relevant pleadings, motions, orders, entries, and other papers filed, tendered for filing, or entered in the respondent court. The record also shall include a current copy of the chronological case summary. In the event a relevant transcript of any evidence in the record exists, it shall be submitted and shall have been certified by the appropriate court reporter.
(2) The last page of the original action record shall be a verification of accuracy by the attorney or unrepresented party submitting the record of proceedings. The following is an acceptable verification: “I verify under penalties of perjury that the documents included in this record of proceedings are accurate copies of documents filed, tendered for filing, or entered in the respondent court.”
(3) The original action record need not be bound like an appellate appendix, but it shall contain a table of contents at the beginning and shall be paginated to allow citation to the record.
(4) No single volume of an electronically submitted record of proceedings may exceed two hundred fifty (250) pages or fifty megabytes (50 MB).
(D) Filing Fee.
Relator shall tender the filing fee of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250) when the Relator submits the original action petition. No fee is required in an original action prosecuted as a pauper cause or on behalf of a governmental unit. If Relator seeks pauper status, Relator shall submit with the original action papers an affidavit of indigency detailing Relator's assets and financial condition and seeking waiver of the filing fee.
(E) Writs.
The Relator shall request a Permanent Writ and may, if appropriate, request an Alternative Writ, or Emergency Writ. Rule 3(A) requires a precise request.
(1) Emergency Writ.
An Emergency Writ is an order that may be granted prior to a hearing. It must be accompanied by a petition for emergency writ demonstrating that a writ must be issued to maintain the status quo and prevent irreparable injury until the petition can be heard. The Emergency Writ operates as a temporary stay of the respondent court proceedings until the Supreme Court hears and rules upon the original action application. All original action petitions that include a request for emergency writ will be submitted to the Chief Justice, if available, or to the Acting Chief Justice for a determination as to whether or not a sufficient emergency exists to require a stay. If the Chief Justice or Acting Chief Justice grants the emergency writ, the writ shall be filed immediately and the original action may be set for hearing. The filing of a petition for emergency writ shall not obviate the need to file the other application papers required by these rules including the petition for writ of mandamus or prohibition.
(2) Alternative Writ.
An Alternative Writ is an order that requires Respondents to take action (mandamus), to cease action (prohibition), or both. If an Alternative Writ is issued, the Respondents shall file a return with the Court no later than twenty (20) days after the filing of the writ. A “return” is a pleading submitted by the respondent court showing compliance with the writ or stating reasons why the writ should not be made permanent.
(3) Permanent Writ.
A Permanent Writ is an order, issued after the application is made, which is immediately permanent. It dispenses with the general practice of allowing the Respondents to file a return.
(F) Brief Opposing Petition.
The Respondents, or any party opposing Relator in the respondent court, or the Attorney General, if service on the Attorney General is required by Rule 2(D)(2) may file a brief opposing the petition at any time before the deadline established by Supreme Court order. The brief opposing petition shall not exceed ten (10) pages or 4,200 words, as confirmed by a word count certificate. A copy of the brief opposing the petition, as well as any other document submitted for filing by the Respondents or other interested parties, shall be served upon the Relator in the same manner described in Rule 2(D)(1).
(G) Documents and Information Excluded from Public Access and Confidential Pursuant to the Rules on Access to Court Records.
Documents and information excluded from public access pursuant to the Rules on Access to Court Records shall be submitted in accordance with the Rules on Access to Court Records.