The State of Illinois uses the Tyler Technologies Odyssey e-File system as their Electronic Filing Manager (EFM). That EFM uses its own credit card processing service called Tyler Online Gateway (TOGA). It authorizes and charges all fees the court assesses.

These fees include: court imposed court fees, court convenience fees, and the Odyssey eFile EFM service fee. As your e-filing service provider (EFSP), we do not authorize or charge your Payment Account for those assessed fees.

The court only charges for accepted filings.

If there are any questions, concerns, or disputes regarding filing fee authorizations on a particular credit or debit card, it is best to contact the TOGA vendor directly, and use your Envelope Number for reference.

Visit the Tyler Online Gateway Contact Page

Pre-Authorization of Assessed Fees

When you submit your filing, TOGA does a pre-authorization on your card for the assessed filing fees. These fees are only a pre-authorization until the filing clerk at the court accepts the filing, rejects the filing, or the filer cancels the submission. The court only completes the pre-authorization of fees with accepted filings.

Court Rejections

The court NEVER charges a filer for rejected filings. If the Court rejects the filing, then TOGA will not settle the pre-authorization of fees, and that pre-authorization will fall off your card within 3 to 10 business days from the date of the filing clerk’s rejection depending on your banking institution.

When rejected filings occur and you re-submit your filing, TOGA does ANOTHER pre-authorization of the assessed fees.

Cancelling a Pending Filing

The court NEVER charges a filer for cancelling a pending filing. If a user cancels a pending filing, then TOGA will not settle the pre-authorization of fees, and that pre-authorization will fall off your card within 3 to 10 business days from the date of the filing clerk’s rejection depending on your banking institution.

Before canceling a filing, be aware that if you cancel it, and then refile it on a date OTHER than the original filing date, the court will issue the re-submitted filing a NEW submission date. The court DOES NOT honor the original submission date and time.

Additionally, when cancelled filings occur and you re-submit your filing, TOGA does ANOTHER pre-authorization of the assessed fees.

Re-Submission of Rejected or Cancelled Filings

When a filer re-submits a cancelled filing or a rejected filing, TOGA does ANOTHER pre-authorization of the assessed fees. Since filers may still see a pre-authorization of fees being held on their Payment Type from the original submission, it is possible for filers to have multiple TOGA pre-authorizations on their card until the hold on the original submission drops off. For this reason, filers may wish to use a credit card instead of a debit card.

Learn more about the use of Debit Cards and the pre-authorization of fees

Re-Submissions and Original File Dates

When re-submitting a cancelled filing or a rejected filing, be aware that if you re-submit it on a date OTHER than the original filing date, the court will issue the re-submitted filing a NEW submission date. The court DOES NOT honor the original submission date and time.

Convenience Payment Service Fee

The convenience fee, or payment service fee, is the charge required to process the transaction. Currently, the fee for using a debit or credit card is 2.89% of the total filing fees accrued, and $0.25 for an eCheck.

Payment Type Errors

There are three general reasons for Payment Type errors of declined pre-authorization of fees.

  1. The card information entered into TOGA for your payment type is incorrect or expired
  2. The bank is declining the pre-authorization of fees for security purposes
  3. Insufficient funds

It is advised to first try re-entering your payment type to verify it’s correct in TOGA. If that does not fix the issue, filers will want to reach out to their banking institution to advise on whether the bank is declining the pre-authorization of fees for security purposes or if there are insufficient funds. Additionally, filers may want to try using a different payment type in the filing.