Americans with Disabilities Act

Rule 1.100 is a state Court rule that allows lawyers, parties, witnesses, jurors, or other people with a disability to confidentially request accommodations from a Court.

Individuals can receive accommodations if they have a disability, have a record of a disabling condition, or are regarded as having a disability that limits one or more major life activity.
Major life activities include caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, or working.

Examples of disabilities include mobility or other motor impairments, psychological and mental illness, vision impairments, hearing impairments, and environmental sensitivities. Some temporary disabilities may also qualify.

You may request an accommodation by filling out Form MC-410, available from any clerk’s office or from the courtrooms. You may also make a request for an accommodation in writing or orally to the Court or other designated personnel.

You may make a request at any time, although you should give the Court at least five (5) working days. If you are unable to fill out the form and you need assistance, you may request a clerk or other Court personnel to assist you in writing down the information. All the information you supply is confidential. You may wish to attach documents such as a doctor’s letter to the form.

After the form is completed, you must sign it under penalty of perjury, which means that everything you state in the form is true under oath, to the best of your knowledge.

Under most circumstances, the Court or its employees will not need additional medical or other personal information.

Rule 1.100 allows the Court to request further information. This means that only those persons in the Court who need to know about your disability in order to make a decision or provide you with an accommodation will learn the details of your request and the personal information that you provide.

Yes, it is your responsibility to contact the Court to request accommodations that would best suit your situation. The Court has an obligation to inform the public of the availability of accommodations. However, if no accommodation is requested, the Court is not required to provide one.

The Court may offer a different or alternative accommodation. For example, if a juror is blind and requests written material introduced at trial to be transcribed in Braille, the Court may consider alternatives, such as providing a reader or tape-recorded transcripts of the written material. The Court itself may offer an accommodation. The Court is not required to provide the best accommodation, but must provide an effective one.

You do not have to accept the alternative accommodation. The Court is required to find an accommodation that will effectively allow you full participation in the Court proceedings. The accommodation may not be your first or preferred choice; however, if you make a request for another type of accommodation, the Court must consider your request.

Yes, however, you may file an appeal if the Court denies your request for a preferred accommodation or the Court provides an accommodation that you believe to be inadequate. To be appropriate, the Court’s denial must be in writing and state specific grounds within Rule 1.100 for the denial.