Vol. 72, No. 12, December 1999

Practice Tips

Previous Page

Using the Online Index
to the State's Standard Court Forms

Forms will be available online for criminal and juvenile cases by Jan. 1, 2000, and for civil cases by July 1, 2000. For a listing of the standard mandated forms, attorneys should refer to the state's online indexes on the Circuit Court Forms page. From that page, you can conduct a forms conceptual search or view two listings of forms. But most important, that page provides access to three important indexes:

1. General, Criminal, Civil, Traffic, Small Claims, Family Forms Index;

2. Juvenile Forms Index; and

3. Probate Forms Index.

Click on any index to see a list of the standard, mandated forms. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader® to view the indexes and forms, which you can download free from Adobe.

The indexes are arranged in a table format with columns for the form number, revision date, statute(s), name of form, and a brief description of the form. Because you cannot access the forms directly from the indexes, it is helpful to print the index information for the form(s) that you need. Once you have that information, go back to the Circuit Court Forms page, and click on the selection "Forms Listing By Name/Number/Category," then enter the appropriate information in the search field(s). Or, also on the Circuit Court Forms page, click on the "Forms Directory Listing," scroll through the numeric list of all forms, and click on the appropriate form number to access the form you need.

All forms are presented in Word® and PDF format. Users can download the forms to their personal computers where they can be saved, filled in, and printed. Then simply file the paper document with the appropriate court. The forms cannot be filed electronically.