1. HOW DOES EFILING WORK?

Electronic filing of court documents occurs through an electronic filing service provider (EFSP). The hospital will create an account and the efiling system manages the flow of the documents to and from the Court. There is no fee for LPS-designated facilities. The hospital user/filer will submit the documents to the EFSP for submission to the Court. The Court will accept or reject the documents. The documents are returned to the EFSP for return to the hospital user/filer through the EFSP’s electronic filing portal.

 

2. IS EFILING MANDATORY?

Efiling will be required effective June 5th. Submission of the request for hearing will no longer be available through the mental health portal.

 

3. WHY IS EFILING BEING ADOPTED?

When we conducted in-person hearings, it was easy to collect the documents directly from facilities and hospitals. Efiling is a secure transmission process, an easy way to submit documents and allows the Court to obtain the necessary documents to conduct hearings as well as meet the retention of records. The needed supporting documents are not always available from facilities or hospitals.

 

4. IS EFILING THE SAME AS FAXING?

No. Efiling is not the same as faxing. For efiling, the filing party must use an EFSP and submit the documents. In the different divisions where fax filing was accepted, it is no longer used.

 

5. WILL FAXING OR EMAILS STILL BE AVAILABLE AFTER EFILING IS IMPLEMENTED?

No. Emails and Fax filing will not be available for documents after efiling is implemented.

 

6. CAN WE ELECT TO CONTINUE USING THE PORTAL TO REQUEST FOR HOSPITAL-BASED HEARINGS?

No. As of June 5, 2023, efiling is required.

 

7. WHY DO HOSPITALS HAVE TO REGISTER AS AN ELECTRONIC FILER (EFILER)?

Registration as an electronic filer is required to establish an account for your electronically filed documents. Your account will allow you to check the status of your electronically filed documents and will provide a path for the Court to return your documents back to you.

 

8. DO I HAVE TO USE AN EFSP?

Yes. An efiling Service Provider is an intermediary between the hospital filer and the Court. The Judicial Council has mandated that all Courts accepting electronically filed documents use independent EFSPs. Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 1010.6(e) the Court may not accept electronic filings directly. You can find a list of approved service providers on the Court’s website. https://www.lacourt.org/division/efiling/providers.aspx.

 

9. CAN HOSPITALS CHANGE EFSP AFTER SELECTING AND REGISTERING WITH ONE?

Yes. You may choose any EFSP. You may change to a different service provider at any time.

 

10. CAN ALL HOSPITAL STAFF USERS USE THE SAME ACCOUNT OR DO WE NEED TO CREATE AN ACCOUNT FOR EACH USER?

One account per facility is sufficient.

 

11. WHICH EFSP CAN I USE?

You may use any EFSP that is listed on the court’s website.

 

12. DO THE EFSPs OFFER TRAINING?

Yes, the EFSP’s onboard their clients.

 

13. ONCE A DOCUMENT IS EFILED, WHAT IS THE TIME FOR PROCESSING?

We do not anticipate an interruption in the processing time.

 

14. WHAT ARE THE FILING HOURS FOR EFILING?

You may submit your filings electronically through your EFSP 24 hours/7 days a week.

 

15. WHAT DO I DO IF MY DOCUMENT IS REJECTED?

Any Notice of Rejection sent by the Court will include the reason for the return of the document. If your document is rejected, correct the deficiency, and resubmit the document via eFiling.

 

16. WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON REASONS ELECTRONICALLY SUBMITTED DOCUMENTS ARE REJECTED?

Some common reasons a filing may be rejected by the Court include, but are not limited to:

  1. If the Request for Mental Health Facility-Based Hearing form is not included, the hearing request will be rejected. The form must be included with each Notice:
    1. Notice of Certification WIC 5150
    2. Notice of Certification WIC 5250
    3. Notice of Certification WIC 5270
    4. Riese Petition WIC 5332
    5. In Re Roger S. Preliminary Report
  2. Documents are not submitted as separate PDFs in the same transaction/envelope, e.g. multiple documents are submitted as a single filed document.
  3. Incorrect case type or case category selected.
  4. Duplicate submission.
  5. If a document is incomplete, it will not be processed.
  6. Selecting incorrect case type or filing code will result in a rejection.
  7. A subsequent document submitted as a new case filing will result in a rejection.

 

17. WHERE DO I FIND MY TRANSACTION/ ENVELOPE NUMBER?

The transaction/ envelope number is noted on your confirmation of filing in the EFSP system.

 

18. CAN I CANCEL A TRANSACTION AFTER SUBMISSION?

No. Once the transaction is electronically submitted, it cannot be cancelled.

 

19. WHO CAN I SPEAK WITH IF I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A FILING?

The first point of contact for any question should be the EFSP. If the question cannot be resolved, you may contact the Court by emailing MHHR@lacourt.org.

 

20. WHO REGISTERS FOR EFILING? HOW DO YOU MAKE AN ACCOUNT?

The hospital needs to register an EFSP in order to be able to efile. The EFSP list is available on the court website. https://www.lacourt.org/division/efiling/providers.aspx. EFSP can provide onboard training.

 

21. HOW DO HOSPITALS CHOOSE AN EFSP? ARE THERE GUIDELINES? DO HOSPITALS RANDOMLY CHOOSE AN EFSP? ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES IN THE VARIOUS EFSPS? WHAT CRITERIA SHOULD A HOSPITAL CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING ONE OF THE VARIOUS EFSP PROVIDERS?

The hospital may select any of the EFSPs listed on the court website. https://www.lacourt.org/division/efiling/providers.aspx

 

22. WILL THE PORTAL STILL BE USED TO NOTIFY THE HOSPITAL OF THE HEARING SCHEDULE? AND THAT IS WHERE THE HOSPITAL WILL GET THE HEARING RECORD? WILL THE NEXT DAY SCHEDULE/CALENDAR FOR HEARINGS BE AVAILABLE ON PORTAL?

Yes, the portal will still be available.

 

23. WOULD WE STILL NEED TO USE MYLACOURT.JPP FOR RETRIEVING CERTIFICATIONS AFTER HEARING?

The portal will remain available.

 

24. WILL THE OFFICE OF PATIENTS’ RIGHTS ALSO HAVE ACCESS TO E-FILED DOCUMENTS?

No, the Office of Patients’ Rights will continue to obtain patient information through hospital representatives.

 

25. WILL THE CURRENT HOSPITAL REPRESENTATIVE STILL GET THE COURT HEARING INVITATION WITH THE WEBEX LINK?

Yes.

 

26. DOES THE HOSPITAL JUST NEED TO FILE THE MH054 REQUEST FOR MENTAL HEALTH HEARINGS OR ALSO HAVE TO INCLUDE A HARD COPY OF THE 5250/5270/RIESE FORM?

The Certification, Riese and Roger S Hearing forms must be filed together with The Request for Hearing MH054 form.

 

27. HOW DO HOSPITALS CANCEL E-FILED DOCUMENT SUBMISSIONS IF A CERTIFICATION REVIEW HEARING IS NO LONGER NEEDED DUE TO PATIENT DISCHARGE OR CONVERSION TO VOLUNTARY STATUS?

You cannot cancel the filing after the submission. To cancel the hearing request, you can contact the court support staff as you do currently, which is by sending a “request to cancel” through MHHR email with reasons.

 

28. WHERE WILL THE THIRD-PARTY HOUSE THE DOCUMENTS? WHAT IS THE SECURITY SYSTEM BEING USED TO PROTECT PHI AND HOW OFTEN ARE YOU RUNNING CHECKS TO ENSURE THE THIRD PARTY IS UPDATING THEIR SYSTEM?

EFSPs are required to run antivirus scans. They are also prohibited from storing data, which should include documents. EFSPs go through rigorous certification testing initially.

 

29. IS EFILING SAFE? HOW IS THE SECURITY AND SAFETY OF THE PATIENTS’ PROTECTED DATA? HAS THE STATE THOROUGHLY EVALUATED THESE PROVIDERS? ARE THERE EXISTING CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE STATE AND THE APPROVED PROVIDERS?

The Court contracts with Tyler Technologies as the electronic filing management system (EFM) that staff use to process e-filed documents. Tyler Technologies is charged with certifying EFSPs ensuring they meet requirements for assisting with electronic filing based on statutory and other technical and security mandates. A few of the code sections that may be of interest include:

CRC 2.254 (c) Public access to electronically filed documents
Except as provided in rules 2.250-2.259 and 2.500-2.506, an electronically filed document is a public document at the time it is filed unless it is sealed under rule 2.551(b) or made confidential by law.

CRC 2.255 (e) Ownership of information
All contracts between the court and electronic filing service providers or the court and electronic filing managers must acknowledge that the court is the owner of the contents of the filing system and has the exclusive right to control the system’s use.

CRC 2.256. Responsibilities of electronic filer
(a) (1) Comply with any court requirements designed to ensure the integrity of electronic filing and to protect sensitive personal information.

CCP 1010.6
(5) Confidential or sealed records shall be electronically served through encrypted methods to ensure that the documents are not improperly disclosed.

 

Last updated 6/4/2023