Each provision of law requiring a judge, clerk or other officer to transmit a paper to another officer, for the benefit of a party, is to be construed as requiring the transmission only at the request of the person so to be benefited, and upon payment by him of the fees allowed by law for the paper transmitted, or any copy or certificate connected therewith, and the expenses specified in section sixty-eight of the public officers law.
§ 8008.Fees and expenses of officer to be paid before transmission of paper
Article 80. Fees · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 8008 requires a judge, clerk, or other officer who must transmit a paper for a party's benefit to do so only when the party requests it and pays the applicable fees and expenses.
Full Text of CPLR 8008
Plain-English Summary
Various statutes direct a judge, clerk, or other officer to send a paper along to another officer for a party's benefit, such as forwarding a filed document to a different court or office. CPLR 8008 clarifies how those transmission duties work in practice: the officer is not obligated to send the paper on its own initiative. Transmission happens only when the person who benefits from it asks for it and pays the fees the law allows for the paper being sent, or for any copy or certificate connected with it, along with the expenses set out in section sixty-eight of the Public Officers Law.
The section functions as an interpretive rule rather than a stand-alone fee schedule of its own. It reads every other law that imposes a transmission duty on a court officer as conditioned on request and payment, so an officer cannot be faulted for withholding transmission of a paper until the interested party comes forward and covers the cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does CPLR 8008 do?
It provides that any law requiring a judge, clerk, or other officer to transmit a paper for a party's benefit is to be read as requiring transmission only when that party requests it and pays the applicable fees and expenses.
Does a court officer have to send a paper to another officer automatically?
No. Under CPLR 8008, the officer transmits the paper only upon the request of the person to be benefited and upon payment of the required fees and expenses.
What expenses does CPLR 8008 require a party to pay?
The fees allowed by law for the paper being transmitted, or for any copy or certificate connected with it, plus the expenses specified in section sixty-eight of the Public Officers Law.
Does CPLR 8008 set its own transmission fee?
No. It does not create a new fee; it conditions transmission duties found in other statutes on request and payment of whatever fees and expenses those other provisions already allow.
Who benefits from the rule in CPLR 8008?
Court officers, who are protected from being required to transmit papers without being asked and without being paid, and parties, who know that transmission depends on their own request and payment.
Is CPLR 8008 a fee schedule on its own?
No. It does not set new amounts; it works alongside other statutes that already set the fee for the paper or service in question and conditions when transmission must occur.
Advisory Committee Notes
This is CPA § 1564 without change.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1963.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: officer transmit paper fee New Yorkclerk transmission fee CPLRpublic officers law section 68 feespayment before transmitting court paper