801.61.Proceedings after order for change of venue.

Section 801.61 handles what happens logistically once a court has ordered a change in the place of trial. The original clerk must certify and transmit all the process, pleadings, other papers, and copies of docket entries to the clerk of the court the case is moving to, along with a statement of the fees owed. Those fees generally have to be paid before transmission by the party who obtained the change, though in a venue-compliance case under the section governing challenges to improper venue, the plaintiff pays the fees and the change is treated as complete once the order is made; in other cases, the change isn’t complete until the transmitted papers are filed with the new court.

The section builds in a real deadline pressure. If the papers aren’t transmitted and filed within 20 days of the order granting the change — unless that time is extended — the party who moved for the change loses the right to it, no further order changing venue for the same reason can be made, and that party has to pay the costs of the application within 10 days after the 20-day period runs out. But the section gives the other party a fallback: within 40 days of the order, that other party can step in, pay the required fees, and have the papers certified and transmitted to the court named in the order anyway.