South Carolina Court E-Filing: Requirements, Fees, and Deadlines

E-filing in South Carolina’s trial courts is open only to licensed South Carolina attorneys in good standing, operates solely in the Court of Common Pleas, and runs on a strict set of South Carolina court e-filing requirements covering PDF format, 8 MB per-document and 40 MB per-submission size limits, a specific electronic signature format, mandatory redaction of personal information under Rule 41.2, a midnight filing deadline that depends on clerk acceptance, and electronic service that is automatic for registered attorneys but does not cover a summons and complaint. Everything below unpacks those rules.

Who Can E-File and Where

Only licensed South Carolina attorneys in good standing may e-file. The system’s login page states that “Non-attorney users MAY NOT e-File at the present time.”¹ Pro hac vice attorneys admitted for a single case are also prohibited from registering.² Self-represented litigants have to file on paper at the Clerk of Court’s office.

The system itself covers the Court of Common Pleas, which handles civil cases in the Circuit Court. The Judicial Branch says the system “will permit you to file your case directly with the Court of Common Pleas in any county where E-Filing is available” and notes that other courts and counties will be added over time.³ Family Court, General Sessions, Probate Court, and Magistrate Court are not part of the current system, and the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals operate separately.

Registration and Automatic Service Consent

Attorneys register through the Attorney Information System (AIS), which links bar credentials to the e-filing portal.³ Registration carries a consequence most new users don’t realize until later: by accepting the User Agreement, an attorney consents to receive electronic service of all filings made by other parties in their cases, except for a summons and complaint served under Rule 4 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.² That consent applies to every case the attorney participates in. There is no case-by-case opt-out.

Document Format and Size Limits

Every document must be a PDF.⁴ Two size ceilings apply:

Individual documents cannot exceed 8 MB. Anything larger must be split into multiple parts.
The total submission cannot exceed 40 MB. If a submission exceeds that and cannot be split, the attorney must file on paper at the Clerk of Court’s office with a Certificate of Technical Failure or Technical Difficulties.

Converting Word documents to PDF before uploading generally produces a smaller file than scanning the printed version.⁵ Scans at high resolution climb past 8 MB quickly, so settings matter when exhibits come from paper originals.

Electronic Signatures

E-filed documents must carry an electronic signature in a specific format: the “/s/” prefix followed by the attorney’s name. Directly below, the filing must include the attorney’s South Carolina Bar number, the attorney’s role in the case (for example, “Attorney for the Plaintiff”), a physical address, phone number, and email address.⁶

When a document needs signatures from more than one attorney, the filing attorney may insert electronic signatures for the others only after obtaining written consent by letter, email, or fax, and the filed document itself must state that consent was obtained. Paralegals signing certificates of service, and individuals signing affidavits or notarized documents, cannot use the “/s/” format. They sign by hand, and the signed document is scanned to PDF for upload.⁶

Redacting Personal Information

Rule 41.2 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure places the burden of redaction on the filer. Clerks do not screen documents for sensitive information. Before filing, the following categories must be removed or limited:⁷

Social Security numbers, taxpayer IDs, driver’s license numbers, and passport numbers cannot appear at all. No portion.
Financial account numbers, PINs, and passwords must be removed. If an account number is relevant, include only the last four digits.
Minor children’s names: in sexual assault or abuse and neglect cases, replace with “victim” or “child”; in other cases, use first name and last initial, such as “John S.,” or initials only.
Home addresses: for minors, sexual assault victims, abuse and neglect victims, and non-parties, include only the city and state.
Dates of birth: if necessary to include, use only the year.

Medical records, employment history, proprietary information, and victim information get similar careful treatment under the rule. The Terms of Use warn that misuse of the system can lead to termination of e-filing privileges, civil liability, criminal prosecution, sanctions, or a grievance with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.²

Filing Fees

Filing fees are paid through the system’s payment gateway at submission. For the Court of Common Pleas, the common fees are:⁸

New civil cases: $150
Foreign judgments: $100
Transcripts of judgments from federal or magistrate court: $35
Lis pendens, confessions of judgment, and automobile arbitration cases: $10
Reinstating a permanently revoked driver’s license: $200

Some case types carry no fee, including criminal appeals from Magistrate or Municipal Court, post-conviction relief cases, and cases where the filer has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. Cases filed by attorneys through legal aid societies or the South Carolina Pro Bono Program are also fee-exempt, but written certification from the attorney is required.⁸

Deadlines, Clerk Review, and Rejections

A document submitted on or before 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time is considered filed on that date, but only if the Clerk of Court subsequently accepts it. Once accepted, the official filing date and time relate back to when the original submission was complete, not when the clerk reviewed it.⁹

If the clerk rejects a filing, it never enters the court record, and any Notice of Electronic Filing already generated is nullified. The filer gets notice of the rejection and the reason, viewable under the “My Filings” tab. If that rejection makes the filing untimely, there is no automatic second chance. The party may seek relief “upon good cause shown,” such as when the clerk erroneously rejected the filing or when the rejection was based on improper formatting.⁹ Getting the submission right the first time is the practical rule.

Electronic Service

The system automatically serves documents on all registered attorneys who have appeared in a case. The Notice of Electronic Filing generated at submission confirms which parties were electronically served.¹⁰ That automatic service satisfies the service requirement for most filings.

A summons and complaint generally cannot be served electronically unless the receiving party explicitly consents to accept service by email or other electronic means. The same restriction applies to subpoenas and any other documents the rules require to be personally served.¹⁰ Self-represented litigants who are not e-filing participants may consent in writing to be served by email and designate an address, but the consent is voluntary.

System Downtime and Technical Failures

The e-filing system goes offline for routine maintenance on the first and third Tuesdays of each month from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Emergency maintenance windows are posted on the portal when they arise.³

The Terms of Use state that system unavailability “shall neither constitute a basis for an extension of time in which to file any matter with the court nor in any way affect any applicable statute of limitations or other legal time requirement, except as provided by law.”² A down system is not automatically a filing excuse. When the portal is unavailable, filers must follow the Technical Difficulties provisions in the E-Filing Policies and Guidelines, which may involve contacting the Clerk of Court directly. The Judicial Branch publishes county-specific email addresses and phone numbers for reporting technical failures.³ When a filing cannot wait, the safest route is paper filing at the clerk’s office with a Certificate of Technical Failure.

1
South Carolina Judicial Branch. South Carolina Statewide E-Filing
2
South Carolina Judicial Department. Terms of Use
3
South Carolina Judicial Branch. E-Filing for Attorneys
4
South Carolina Judicial Department. Electronic Filing – Filer Interface Complete User Guide
5
South Carolina Judicial Branch. Filing Large Documents and Additional Parts Attorney Reference Guide
6
South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 5 – Signatures on E-Filed Documents
7
South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 41.2 Privacy Protection for Filings
8
South Carolina Judicial Branch. Circuit Court Filing Fees
9
South Carolina Judicial Branch. Rule 4 – E-Filing and E-Service
10
The Supreme Court of South Carolina. RE: Service by E-Mail in the Trial Courts