Start with the correction, because a lot of Minnesota checklist material is out of date on this point: Minnesota no longer has a separate Rule 111 informational statement. Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 111.02, captioned “The Party’s Scheduling Input,” now reads in its entirety:
The parties may submit scheduling information to the court as part of the civil cover sheet as provided in Rule 104 of these rules.
That’s the whole rule, as amended effective July 1, 2013. The scheduling input rides on the Rule 104 civil cover sheet. If your form file holds a standalone “Rule 111.02 Informational Statement,” that form predates the 2013 amendment. You’d be filing a document the current rule doesn’t contemplate, and maybe leaving the cover sheet’s scheduling fields blank while you’re at it.
The second correction follows from the first. In the ordinary civil case you don’t file both a certificate of representation and a civil cover sheet. You file the cover sheet, and the representation information rides inside it.
What does Rule 104 actually require, and when?
At the time of filing. Not at commencement. In a state where an action is commenced by service and may sit unfiled for months, that difference is everything. Rule 104 opens:
Except as otherwise provided in these rules for specific types of cases and in cases where the action is commenced by filing by operation of statute, a party filing a civil case shall, at the time of filing, notify the court administrator in writing of[.]
Two exclusions sit in that opening clause. Other rules governing specific case types can displace Rule 104, and actions commenced by filing under a statute are out entirely. The Advisory Committee’s 1995 comment explains the second one: in those cases “it is unfair and inappropriate to place additional burdens on the filing process that are not required by statute, and which might result in the rejection of a document for filing,” and it names mechanic’s lien actions, quiet title actions, and Torrens registration proceedings as the examples you’ll run into most.
Then the rule splits by case type, and the split runs backward from what you’d guess.
Rule 104(a) — Certificate of Representation and Parties. This applies “[i]f the case is a family case or a civil case listed in Rule 111.01.” It requires “the name, postal address, e-mail address, and telephone number of all counsel and self-represented litigants, if known,” on Form CIV102.
Watch what “a civil case listed in Rule 111.01” means. Rule 111.01 is a list of case types excluded from the Rule 111 scheduling system. So the Certificate of Representation and Parties is the form for family cases and for the cases scheduling doesn’t reach.
Rule 104(b) — Civil Cover Sheet. This applies “[i]f the case is a non-family civil case other than those listed in Rule 111.01” — your ordinary civil action. The form is CIV117, and the rule says it “shall also include the information required in part (a) of this rule.” One document does both jobs.
Rule 104(b) also gives every other party a window: “Any other party to the action may, within 7 days of service of the filing party’s civil cover sheet, file a supplemental civil cover sheet to provide additional information about the case.” That’s the defendant’s chance to put its own view of complexity, discovery needs, and trial length in front of the judge who’ll write the scheduling order. It’s 7 days, it runs from service of the plaintiff’s cover sheet, and it’s the cheapest scheduling advocacy you’ll get in a Minnesota case.
Two continuing obligations close out the rule. If required information isn’t known when the case is filed, “it shall be provided to the court administrator in writing by the filing party within 7 days of learning it.” And “[a]ny party impleading additional parties shall provide the same information to the court administrator” — a duty on the third-party plaintiff that’s easy to miss.
What does the court do with it?
The administrator opens the case and tells everyone. Rule 104: “The court administrator shall, upon receipt of the completed certificate, notify all parties or their lawyers, if represented by counsel, of the date of filing the action and the file number assigned.”
That notice is more than bookkeeping. The 1995 Advisory Committee Comment describes what the certificate is for in a commence-by-service system: because “many pleadings are routinely not filed,” the certificate lets the court give notice of the judge assignment, “thereby triggering for all parties the 10-day period to remove an assigned judge under Minn. R. Civ. P. 63.”
That period is still ten days. Minn. R. Civ. P. 63.03 requires that a notice to remove “be served and filed within ten days after the party receives notice of which judge or judicial officer is to preside at the trial or hearing, but not later than the commencement of the trial or hearing.” Rule 63.03 also bars a notice against a judge “who has presided at a motion or any other proceeding of which the party had notice.” So the Rule 104 filing can be the event that starts a ten-day clock on a right that dies quietly. See the notice to remove under Rule 63.
What is the sanction for not filing a cover sheet?
Not rejection of the filing. The Advisory Committee said so expressly in the 2015 comment to Minn. R. Civ. P. 5.04:
The rule intentionally omits any recommendation that the absence of a Civil Cover Sheet would result in the rejection of a document for filing. The court can impose an appropriate sanction for this failure after appropriate notice to the parties and, if the court determines it is appropriate, an opportunity to cure the defect.
So leaving it out doesn’t cost you a filing date, and that matters a great deal when you’re filing against the one-year deadline in Rule 5.04(a). But it’s sanctionable, after notice and usually with a chance to cure. Rule 5.04(c)’s list of grounds on which an administrator may reject a filing doesn’t include a missing cover sheet.
Which cases are outside the scheduling system?
Rule 111.01 states the purpose of the rule — “to provide a uniform system for scheduling matters for disposition and trial in civil cases” — and then excludes fifteen categories: conciliation court actions and conciliation court appeals where no jury trial is demanded; family court matters governed by Gen. R. Prac. 301 through 379; public assistance appeals under Minn. Stat. § 256.045, subd. 7; eviction actions under Minn. Stat. §§ 504B.281 et seq.; implied consent proceedings under Minn. Stat. § 169A.53 and refusal to comply with a test under a search warrant under Minn. Stat. § 171.177; juvenile court proceedings; civil commitment proceedings; probate court proceedings; periodic trust accountings under Gen. R. Prac. 417; harassment restraining order and order for protection proceedings under Minn. Stat. §§ 609.748 and 518B.01; land title registration under Minn. Stat. ch. 508; election contests under Minn. Stat. ch. 209; applications to compel or stay arbitration under Minn. Stat. ch. 572; consumer credit contract actions; and mechanics’ lien actions.
Being on that list does three things. The case gets a Certificate of Representation and Parties under Rule 104(a), not a civil cover sheet; the 2024 Advisory Committee Comment to Rule 111.01 says it directly: “Inclusion on this list also means that a Civil Cover sheet is not required under Rule 104 of these rules.” No scheduling order issues as of right. And none of that is permanent: “The court may invoke the procedures of this rule in any action where not otherwise required.”
If you do collection defense, the consumer credit contract exclusion deserves a closer look. The 2009 Advisory Committee Comment explains that the exclusion was added because those cases “are required to be filed but are often either not ready for case scheduling or are unlikely ever to require it,” and describes the case type as one requiring three things: that the plaintiff is a corporation or other business organization rather than an individual, that the defendant is an individual, and that the contract amount does not exceed $20,000. That description was written against Minn. R. Civ. P. Form 23. The 2024 comment states that the case type index “has been converted from a form appended to the rules of civil procedure into a document maintained by the state court administrator and posted on the main judicial branch website,” so confirm the current definition against that index, not against the 2009 comment. This piece doesn’t report what the current index says. Small-claims practice sits next door and runs on its own track; see Minnesota conciliation court.
When does the scheduling order issue, and what is in it?
Rule 111.03(a), as amended effective July 1, 2026, sets both ends of the window:
No sooner than the due date of the last civil cover sheet under Rule 104, and no longer than 90 days after an action has been filed, the court shall enter its scheduling order. The court may issue the order after a conference, or without a conference or hearing if none is needed.
The floor is the cover sheet deadline. That’s why the defendant’s 7-day supplemental cover sheet is worth filing instead of skipping: it’s the input the court is waiting on. The ceiling is 90 days after filing, and “the court shall enter” is mandatory language. And the order can issue on the papers. No conference is required, so if you want one, ask, and if you assume one is coming you may get deadlines you never argued about. Because Rule 111.03 was amended effective July 1, 2026, read the current rule text before you rely on any secondary description of this timing, this one included.
Rule 111.03(b) separates what the order must do from what it may do. Two items are mandatory: the order “shall provide for alternative dispute resolution as required by Rule 114.04(c) and shall establish a date for the completion of discovery.” Ten further items are discretionary — deadlines for joining additional parties by amendment or third-party practice; deadlines for nondispositive or dispositive motions; deadlines or dates for submitting particular issues; a deadline for a Rule 35 examination; a date for a Rule 26.06 discovery conference, a Rule 16 pretrial conference, or a further scheduling conference; deadlines for pretrial submissions including proposed instructions, verdicts or findings, witness lists, exhibit lists, and statements of the case; whether the case is a jury or court trial; identification of anticipated interpreter services, specifying language and dialect if known; a date for a Joint Statement of the Case under Gen. R. Prac. 112; and a trial date.
That list is your agenda for anything you want to say about scheduling. If a deadline you care about is on the discretionary list, it isn’t going into the order unless somebody asks, and the way you ask is the cover sheet.
What if the schedule needs to change?
Rule 111.04, in full on the point:
A scheduling order pursuant to this rule may be amended at a pretrial conference or upon motion for good cause shown. Except in unusual circumstances, a motion to extend deadlines under a scheduling order shall be made before the expiration of the deadline. The court may issue more than one scheduling order.
The middle sentence is the one that does the work, and it ought to change how you practice: move before the deadline runs, because after it runs you’re also arguing “unusual circumstances.” The standard for the motion itself is good cause. Motion mechanics (the tracks, the service and filing deadlines, and the page limits) are in Rule 115, and the counting is in Rule 6.
Rule 111.05 gives you one structured way to hit pause: where the parties request deferral in a form substantially similar to Form 111.03 and the court has agreed to attempt resolution through a collaborative law process, “the court shall defer setting any deadlines for the period specified in the order approving deferral.”
What the rules don’t tell you
Rules 104 and 111 set a floor. The assigned judge’s standing order and practice pointers can sit on top of them: additional or differently formatted scheduling submissions, particular conference expectations, chambers-copy conventions, and requirements for what a request to modify a schedule must contain. Where those documents demand more than the rules, they govern the case in front of you. They’re published on each judicial district’s page at mncourts.gov. Nothing here describes any judge’s requirements. Read the pointers for your assigned judge before the first submission, not after the first order. Filing mechanics for all of it are in Rule 14.
Madgett Law, LLC associates with out-of-state counsel on Minnesota matters and appears as local counsel. Call 612-470-6529 or send us a message.
Sources: Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 104 (opening clause, parts (a) and (b), the continuing-disclosure and impleader sentences, the court administrator notice sentence, and the Cross Reference to Minn. R. Civ. P. 5.04), and the Advisory Committee Comment — 1995 Amendment to Rule 104; Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 111.01 (scope and exclusions (a)–(o)) with the Advisory Committee Comments of 2009 and 2024; 111.02; 111.03(a) and 111.03(b)(1)–(10) (111.03 as amended effective July 1, 2026); 111.04; 111.05(b). Minn. R. Civ. P. 5.04(c) and the Advisory Committee Comments — 2015 Amendments to Rule 5.04; Minn. R. Civ. P. 63.03. Rule text: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes court rules database, August 10, 2026. Forms CIV102 and CIV117, the state court administrator’s case type index, and judicial district practice pointers are published at mncourts.gov. This article is general information about Minnesota civil procedure for other lawyers, not legal advice, and reading it creates no attorney–client relationship; no outcome is promised or implied.