(a) Record to Be Filed in Superior Court. When a District Court matter has been appealed to the Superior Court as authorized by statute, the clerk of the division shall transfer the record to the Superior Court. The original papers and exhibits filed in the District Court and a copy of the docket entries prepared by the clerk of the District Court, together with any transcript made pursuant to Rule 76H of these rules, shall constitute the record on appeal in all cases. A party must make advance arrangements with the clerk for the transportation and receipt of documents or exhibits of unusual bulk or weight. The record on appeal prepared in accordance with this subdivision shall be filed in the Superior Court not later than 40 days after the filing of the notice of appeal or 10 days after the filing of any transcript of the proceedings requested in accordance with Rule 76H, whichever occurs later. It shall be the appellant’s responsibility to ensure that these time limits are met and to provide the clerk such assistance as is necessary in preparing and copying the record for filing in the Superior Court. If the appellant fails to comply with the requirements of this rule, the District Court may on motion of any party or on its own initiative, dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution. Upon showing of good cause, the District Court may increase or decrease the time allowed for filing the record. Upon receipt of the record from the District Court, the clerk of the Superior Court shall send each counsel of record or unrepresented party a written notice of the docketing of the receipt of the record on appeal, the Superior Court docket number, the date upon which the record was received, the date upon which the appellant’s brief is due, and a copy of the briefing schedule required by Rule 76G(a).
Rule 76F.Record on Appeal to the Superior Court
Last amended November 1, 2023 · Last verified July 8, 2026
In one sentenceRule 76F sets how the record on a District Court appeal gets prepared and filed with the Superior Court, including the 40-day filing deadline, the court's power to correct errors in the record, and the fallback procedures when no electronic recording exists or when the parties can decide the appeal on an agreed statement of the case.
Full Text of Rule 76F
(b) Power of Court to Correct or Modify Record. It is not necessary for the record on appeal to be approved by the District Court judge except as provided in subdivisions (c) and (d) of this rule but, if any difference arises as to whether the record truly discloses what occurred, the difference shall be submitted to and settled by the District Court judge and the record made to conform to the truth. If anything material to either party is omitted from the record on appeal by error or accident or is misstated therein, the parties by stipulation, or the District Court judge, either before or after the record is transmitted to the Superior Court, or the Superior Court, on a proper suggestion or of its own initiative, may direct that the omission or misstatement shall be corrected, and if necessary that a supplemental record shall be certified and transmitted by the clerk.
(c) Appeals When No Electronic Recording Was Made. In any case in which electronic recording would be routine or has been timely requested under Rule 76H(a) of these rules, if for reasons beyond the control of any party, no recording, or no transcript thereof, was made, or is available, the appellant may prepare a statement of the evidence or proceedings from the best available means, including the appellant’s recollection, for use instead of a transcript. This statement shall be served on the appellee within 10 days after an appeal is taken to the Superior Court, and the appellee may serve objections or propose amendments thereto within 10 days after service upon the appellee. Thereupon the statement, with the objections or proposed amendment, shall be submitted to the court for settlement and approval and as settled and approved shall be included in the record on appeal filed with the Superior Court.
(d) Record on Agreed Statement. When the questions presented by an appeal to the Superior Court can be determined without an examination of all the pleadings, evidence, and proceedings in the court below, the parties may prepare and sign a statement of the case showing how the questions arose and were decided and setting forth only so many of the facts averred and proved or sought to be proved as are essential to a decision of the questions by the Superior Court. The statement shall include a copy of the judgment appealed from, a copy of the notice of appeal with its filing date, and a concise statement of the points to be relied on by the appellant. If the statement conforms to the truth, it, together with such additions as the District Court judge may consider necessary fully to present the questions raised by the appeal, shall be approved by the District Court judge and shall then be certified to the Superior Court as the record on appeal.
Advisory Committee’s Notes & Reporter’s Notes
Advisory Note – November 2023
Subdivision (a) is amended in light of the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems to require that the District Court clerk transfer the record to the Superior Court rather than filing it with the Superior Court. Grammatical corrections and clarifying language are also incorporated.
Advisory Committee’s Notes — June 1, 2000
Rule 76F, subdivision (a), is amended to remove the requirement that the copy of the docket entries be “certified.”
Advisory Committee’s Notes — March 1, 1994
Rule 76F(a) is amended for consistency with Rule 74(a) to provide that, as on appeal from the Superior Court to the Law Court, the record in a District Court appeal to the Superior Court consists of the original of all papers and exhibits in the District Court and that those originals are to be forwarded to the Superior Court. The amendment makes the practice in District Court civil appeals consistent with that in criminal appeals. See M.R.Crim.P. 36A(b). The purpose of consistency among all three forms of appeal is to eliminate confusion on the part of the District Court clerks, who must handle the record not only in civil and criminal appeals to the Superior Court but in occasional direct District Court appeals to the Law Court.
Advisory Committee’s Notes
[Note: Former D.C.C.R. 75(a), after the 1987 abrogation of the District Court Civil Rules, became M.R. Civ. P. 76F(a)]
This amendment [to D.C.C.R. 75(a)] imposes deadlines, which presently do not exist, for filing the record on appeal from District Court.
Basically, the record would have to be filed 40 days after filing the notice of appeal or ten days after any transcript of the proceedings which has been requested in accordance with District Court Civil Rule 76, whichever occurs
later. Further, the amendment makes it clear that although the clerk bears the responsibility for sending the record to the Superior Court, the appellant is held responsible to assure that the record is prepared and to provide the clerk such assistance, including copying and other matters which might impose significant cost upon the court, as is necessary to assure that the record can be submitted within the time limits specified in the rule.
Last reviewed and edited March 16, 2021
Plain-English Summary
Once a District Court matter is appealed, the clerk transfers the original papers and exhibits along with a copy of the docket entries and any transcript to form the record on appeal. That record must be filed in the Superior Court within 40 days of the notice of appeal, or 10 days after any requested transcript is filed, whichever is later, and it's the appellant's job to see that deadline is met; missing it risks dismissal for want of prosecution, though the District Court can adjust the deadline for good cause. Once the Superior Court clerk receives the record, it notifies the parties of the docket number, the receipt date, and the appellant's briefing deadline.
Subdivision (b) lets the District Court judge, the parties by stipulation, or the Superior Court correct an inaccurate or incomplete record so it truly reflects what happened. When no electronic recording was made and none is available for reasons beyond a party's control, subdivision (c) lets the appellant prepare a statement of the evidence from the best available means, served on the appellee for objections or proposed amendments, then submitted to the court for settlement and approval. And when the appeal turns on questions that don't require the whole record, subdivision (d) lets the parties instead sign an agreed statement of the case, including the judgment, the notice of appeal, and the appellant's points of reliance, which the District Court judge approves and certifies as the record on appeal.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the appellant have to file the record on appeal with the Superior Court?
40 days after the notice of appeal is filed, or 10 days after any transcript requested under Rule 76H is filed, whichever occurs later, extendable or shortenable by the District Court for good cause.
What happens if no recording was made of the District Court proceeding?
The appellant can prepare a statement of the evidence from the best available means, including recollection, which the appellee can object to or propose amending before the court settles and approves it for the record.
Can the parties skip preparing the full record on appeal?
Yes, if the appeal can be decided without examining the whole record, the parties can sign an agreed statement of the case, which the District Court judge approves and certifies as the record instead.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Committee’s Notes / Reporter’s
Notes are reproduced verbatim from the official Maine Rules of Civil Procedure (Me. R. Civ. P. 76F), prescribed by the
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine (4 M.R.S. § 8, the Rules Enabling Act). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: record on appeal Maine District Courtagreed statement of the casestatement of evidence no transcript