Butler County, Pennsylvania (Court of Common Pleas): In re: Use of Generative Artificial…
President Judge S. Michael Yeager · Court of Common Pleas of Butler County, Pennsylvania
Verified October 1, 2026
- Citation
- In re: Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence, MsD No. 2024-40258 (Butler County Court of Common Pleas, Pa.)
- Order date
- September 10, 2024
Summary
'Attorneys and/or pro se litigants (a party representing himself or herself) shall disclose any use of generative Artificial Intelligence ("AI") in the preparation of any complaint, answer, motion, brief, or other pleading and/or filing submitted to the court.'
What does the order require?
- 'Attorneys and/or pro se litigants (a party representing himself or herself) shall disclose any use of generative Artificial Intelligence ("AI") in the preparation of any complaint, answer, motion, brief, or other pleading and/or filing submitted to the court.'
- 'Counsel and/or any pro se litigant is to attach to each such filing the following Affidavit Regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence attesting that generative AI has not been utilized in any way in the preparation of the filing, or, if generative AI has been used in the preparation of the filing, that each and every citation to the law or the record in the filing has been verified by a human being as authentic and accurate.'
- The affidavit is made under penalty of perjury (18 Pa.C.S. § 4904) and acknowledges that the signing attorney will be held responsible for the filing under the rules of attorney discipline whether or not generative AI drafted any portion of it.
- 'This Order is effective thirty (30) days after the publication of the rule in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.' It was published at 54 Pa.B. 5980 (Sept. 21, 2024).
Practice areas: state civil, state criminal, state family
What the order requires
President Judge S. Michael Yeager’s Administrative Order of Court, In re: Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence, MsD No. 2024-40258 (Butler Cnty. C.P. Sept. 10, 2024), published at 54 Pa.B. 5980 (Sept. 21, 2024), requires attorneys and pro se litigants to disclose any use of generative AI in preparing a complaint, answer, motion, brief, or other filing.
Every such filing carries an “Affidavit Regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence.” The affidavit attests either that generative AI was not used in any way to prepare the filing, or that, if it was, every citation to the law or the record has been verified by a human being as authentic and accurate. It is sworn under penalty of perjury under 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904, and the signing attorney acknowledges responsibility for the filing under the rules of attorney discipline whether or not AI drafted any part of it.
The order took effect thirty days after its publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Related orders
Lancaster County (October 2025) and Westmoreland County (May 2026) later adopted orders that require the affidavit to name the tool and the AI-drafted portions. Butler’s affidavit asks only whether generative AI was used and, if so, for human verification of the citations.