BNC Outage Court Orders: A District-by-District Guide for Creditors

The Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) has been offline for more than two weeks, and bankruptcy courts are no longer waiting for it to come back.

Since the outage began on October 9, 2026, district after district has entered general and administrative orders that change who serves notices, how service is proven, and how parties ask for relief.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts confirmed on October 15 that a cybersecurity incident at BAE Systems, the contractor that runs the BNC, halted nationwide notice production. As of this update, no restoration date has been announced.

According to an October 23 order from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of Illinois, the Judicial Conference of the United States declared a nationwide Bankruptcy Rules emergency under Rule 9038 on October 22, running through January 7, 2027. The declaration lets chief judges extend or toll rule-based deadlines district-wide, so expect more courts to issue emergency orders in the coming days.

For creditors, these orders matter as much as the outage itself. Several districts now shift notice of new cases to debtors and their attorneys, and some reach back to cases filed before October 9.

Below is a summary of each order we found, with a link to the official text. If you are new to the outage, start with our first Industry Insight: The BNC Outage 2026: What Creditors Need to Know and Do Right Now.

BNC outage court orders at a glance

We found BNC outage orders in 22 districts as of October 26, 2026, listed by most recent order. Courts are issuing new orders daily, and we’re adding them as we confirm them, so check back for updates.

The biggest shift so far: at least nine districts now require debtors, their attorneys, or trustees to mail the notice of a new case, reaching back to cases filed on or after October 6, 7 or 8.

• Illinois Central
• California Central
• Mississippi Northern
• California Eastern
• New York Eastern
• Kansas
• Maine
• Oregon
• Florida Northern
• Florida Middle
• Tennessee Eastern
• Connecticut
• Illinois Northern
• Indiana Southern
• Florida Southern
• Georgia Southern
• New Jersey
• Tennessee Middle
• Texas Eastern
• Texas Southern
• Wisconsin Western

District-by-district summaries

Each summary covers the points that matter most to creditors and servicers. Read the official order linked under each heading before acting on a specific case.

Central District of Illinois: Order Regarding BNC Service Disruption and Bankruptcy Rules Emergency (October 23)

Read the order · Court notice

• First order we've seen under the national emergency. The court acted under the Judicial Conference’s October 22 Rule 9038 declaration, which covers every bankruptcy court from October 9, 2026 through January 7, 2027.
• “Promptly” now means “as soon as practicable.” Any rule or order requiring action “promptly,” “forthwith,” “immediately,” or “without delay” can now be met as soon as practicable, or by a date the judge sets.
• Statutory deadlines unchanged. The order does not extend, shorten, or alter any statutory deadline.
• Automatic end date. The order ends on January 7, 2027, or earlier if the Judicial Conference ends the emergency.

Central District of California: General Order 26-03 (October 23)

Read the order · Court notice on GO 26-02

• The court stops mailing orders. The court will no longer mail entered orders or judgments to any party, or email them to debtors. Whoever lodged the order must serve non-CM/ECF parties within 2 business days and file proof within 3.
• Debtor’s attorney serves new-case notices. For cases filed on or after October 7, the debtor’s attorney (or a self-represented debtor) must mail the 341 notice within 3 days.
• Registered addresses may be missed. CM/ECF creditor and party lists may not include EBN or NCRS addresses.
• Deadlines stand, with a safeguard. No deadline is extended, but no adverse action may rest on an affected notice unless the court finds it was properly given. This order builds on General Order 26-02 (October 14).

Northern District of Mississippi: Standing Order (October 22)

Read the order · Court notice

• Debtors' attorneys and movants serve notice. The judges designated debtors' attorneys and movants to serve notice of certain items the BNC would normally send.
• Attorneys keep clients informed. Attorneys should pass along hearings, orders, and other information their clients would normally get from the BNC.
• No restoration date. The court says it has no timeline for BNC services to return, and court notices will be delayed until they do.

Eastern District of California: General Orders 26-06 and 26-07 (October 22)

Read the order · Court homepage

• Debtors serve new-case notices. For cases filed on or after October 7, the debtor must serve the commencement and 341 notice within 3 business days of filing. Debtors also serve discharge and dismissal orders and all Chapter 13 plans.
• Filers serve their own requests. Anyone filing a motion, plan, notice of assets, or transfer of claim must serve it and any related hearing or deadline notice.
• No assumed delivery. Parties may not presume a document sent to the BNC was delivered, and must verify or serve it and file a certificate of service.
• Deadlines stand, with a safeguard. No deadline is extended, but no adverse action should rest on a notice whose legally sufficient delivery can't be established.

Eastern District of New York: Administrative Orders 844 and 845 (October 22)

Read Administrative Order 845 · Court update on creditor lists

• Two orders so far. The court posted Administrative Order 844 on October 16 and followed it with Administrative Order 845 on October 22.
• Creditor list workaround. The court's October 16 update says not to use the BNC or NCRS portal or the CM/ECF "List of Creditors" utility to pull a mailing matrix, and explains the alternative.
• NEFs still work. The court's CM/ECF Notice of Electronic Filing emails continue to operate normally.

District of Kansas: General Orders 26-1 and 26-2 (October 21)

Read the order · Court notice

• Two orders, one process. General Order 26-1 came first and sets the process for deadline relief. General Order 26-2 (October 21) adds the service rules below, and both are temporary standing orders.
• Debtors serve new-case notices. In cases filed on or after October 8 by a represented debtor, the debtor must serve the 341 notice and any Chapter 13 plan. The clerk serves for self-represented debtors.
• Movants serve their own orders. The party that files a motion must serve the hearing notice and the court's order on it, including text-only orders.
• Tight service deadline. Designated parties must serve each document and file proof within 3 business days, and sending a document to the BNC does not count as notice.

District of Maine: General Order 26-01 (October 21)

Read the order

• Debtors serve new-case notices. In voluntary Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13 cases filed on or after October 7, the debtor must serve the notice of commencement and 341 meeting within 5 days. The clerk still serves for self-represented Chapter 7 debtors.
• Debtors serve case-ending orders. Discharge, dismissal, closing orders and final decrees must be served by the debtor, with proof of service filed.
• Filers serve their own requests. Anyone filing a motion, plan, notice of sale or transfer of claim on or after October 21 must serve it and any related deadline notice.
• No assumed delivery. Parties may not presume a document sent to the BNC was delivered.
• Deadlines stand. No deadline is extended or shortened. Relief requires a motion that names the affected notice.

District of Oregon: General Order 26-3 (October 21)

Read the order

• Debtor's attorney serves new-case notices. For cases filed on or after October 7, the debtor's attorney (or an unrepresented debtor) must mail the 341 notice within 3 business days.
• Anyone may serve other orders. Any person is authorized to serve discharge orders, dismissals, closing orders and final decrees.
• Proof required. A document sent to the BNC is not treated as delivered unless a certificate of service is on the docket. Certificates are due within 4 business days of service.
• Registered addresses may be missed. CM/ECF creditor lists may not include addresses registered through EBN or NCRS.
• Protection for parties who weren't noticed. No adverse action may rest on a missed deadline in an affected notice unless the court finds notice was properly given.

Northern District of Florida: Administrative Order 26-004 (October 20)

Read the order · Court's BNC outage page

• Creditors must opt in to get notice. Any creditor that wants notice must electronically file a Request for Notice through CM/ECF to receive NEF emails. Registration with the BNC, before or after the order, no longer counts as a request for notice.
• Entities can file without counsel for this purpose. The local rule requiring entities to appear through counsel is waived only for filing a Request for Notice.
• Retroactive to October 6. The order applies to notices not given because of the outage dating back to October 6.
• Debtor's attorney serves new-case notices. For cases filed on or after October 6, the Notice of Bankruptcy Case must be mailed within 3 days. Trustees serve certain other notices, including Notices of Assets.
• Same no-prejudice protection as Oregon. No adverse action may rest on a deadline in an affected notice unless notice was properly given.

This order supplements Administrative Order 26-003, entered October 14, which remains in effect where consistent.

Middle District of Florida: Administrative Order FLMB-2026-5 (October 20)

Read the original order · Court homepage

• Deadline relief. The court found the outage to be good cause for relief under Rule 9006 and extended certain deadlines.
• Amended order. An amended order posted October 20 adds emergency temporary procedures for notice. Check the court's homepage for the current version.

Eastern District of Tennessee: General Order 2026-03 (October 20)

Read the order

• Chapter 13 trustee serves new-case notices. For Chapter 13 cases filed on or after October 7, the trustee must serve the commencement and 341 notice plus the Chapter 13 plan.
• Any party may voluntarily serve. In all chapters, any party in interest may elect to serve notices the BNC would normally send.
• 341 meetings can't conclude without notice. Meetings go forward as scheduled but are adjourned until proper notice is given and creditors can participate.
• Wage orders. Debtors' counsel must deliver Chapter 13 wage orders to the debtor's employer and file a Notice of Compliance.
• General Order 2026-02, entered October 15, remains in effect.

District of Connecticut: General Order 2026-02 (October 16)

Read the order

• Earlier start date. The court says the disruption may have begun as early as October 6.
• Relief on request. The court may extend or reset deadlines or continue hearings, by written motion or orally at a scheduled hearing. Parties should confer first when practicable.
• Hearings proceed. Scheduled hearings go forward unless the court orders otherwise.

Northern District of Illinois: General Order 26-04 (October 16)

Read the order

• Judges may extend or reset. Citing Rule 9006, judges may extend deadlines or continue hearings to address the outage.
• No blanket suspension. Hearings proceed unless the court orders otherwise; relief is requested by motion or orally.

Southern District of Indiana: General Orders 26-0003 (October 13) and 26-0004 (October 16)

Read the order

• Good cause found. The first order finds good cause under Rule 9006 and says no party should be prejudiced by failing to respond to a notice the BNC never delivered.
• Updated procedures. The second order addresses continuing notice and service requirements and 341 meetings.

Southern District of Florida: Administrative Order 2026-06 (October 16)

Read the order · Court update page

• In effect until further order. The order took effect immediately.
• Registered addresses may be skipped. The court warns that CM/ECF creditor and party lists may not include EBN or NCRS addresses.

Southern District of Georgia: Administrative Order 2026-1 (October 15)

Read the order · Court notice

• Extensions and continuances. The order covers extensions and continuances while BNC notices are delayed.
• Request 341 notices directly. For cases filed after October 7, the court will send copies of 341 notices on request by email to copy_requests@gas.uscourts.gov, in person, or by mail with a stamped return envelope.
• Registered addresses may be missed. The court warns that CM/ECF creditor lists may not reflect NCRS or EBN registrations.

District of Puerto Rico: General Order 26-02 (October 15)

Read the order · Court homepage

• No prejudice for unserved notices. No party will be prejudiced by failing to respond to a notice that wasn’t served because of the outage, subject to applicable law and further order.
• Deadlines can be extended or reset. The court may extend or reset deadlines or continue hearings, either on a party’s request or on its own where the law permits. Parties can ask by written motion or orally at a hearing that’s already scheduled, and should confer first when practicable.
• Hearings proceed. Scheduled hearings go forward unless the court orders otherwise. The order stays in effect until further order.

District of New Jersey: General Order (October 14)

Read the order · Court Notice

• Signed October 14. Chief Judge Christine Gravelle signed a general order on the interruption; the court posted notice of it October 15.
• 341 notices may be delayed. The court is still accepting filings and opening cases, but notices, orders and 341 notices may be delayed.
• Creditor list gaps. The CM/ECF creditor list leaves out other interested parties, such as debtors, trustees and the U.S. Trustee.

Middle District of Tennessee: Administrative Order 26-2 (October 14)

Court notice and order

• Debtor's attorney serves in Chapters 7, 11 and 12. Docket orders require counsel to serve commencement notices in cases filed as of October 8.
• Chapter 13 trustee serves in Chapter 13. The trustee is serving affected commencement notices.

Eastern District of Texas: General Orders 2026-1 and 2026-2 (October 13 to 14)

General Order 2026-1 · General Order 2026-2 · Court update

• Extensions and relief. The orders address extensions of time and relief from deadlines tied to the outage.
• Motions to stay. News coverage reports the court extended active motions to stay by 30 days in cases filed on or after September 14.
• 341 notices delayed. The court warns that notices, orders and 341 notices may be delayed until service resumes.

Southern District of Texas: General Order 2026-4 (October 13)

Read the order

• Extensions by motion only. The court may extend affected deadlines for cause on motion under Rule 9006(b).
• Nothing automatic. The order expressly does not extend any deadline or change any substantive right on its own.

Western District of Wisconsin: General Order 2026-3 (October 13)

Read the order · Court homepage

• Relief available. General Order 2026-3 offers relief for affected parties, including requests to extend deadlines or continue hearings.
• 341 notices delayed. The outage affects the court’s service of notices and orders, including 341 meeting notices, and its access to creditor address labels.
• Filings continue. The court is still accepting filings and processing cases, but service may be delayed.

Courts with notices but no order yet

Many other districts have posted guidance without a general order, including Alaska, Arizona, Georgia Northern, and California Southern. Alaska stands out: 341 meetings for cases filed on or after October 9 will not be set until the BNC returns.

What these orders mean for creditors

The orders fix the courts' noticing problem, not yours. Notice is moving from one central sender to thousands of debtors, attorneys, and trustees, and the BNC preferences creditors built up over years are being bypassed.

• A national emergency changes the timeline. The Judicial Conference’s Rule 9038 declaration runs through January 7, 2027. It lets chief judges extend or toll rule-based deadlines district-wide, beyond the case-by-case relief most orders allow today. Statutory deadlines don’t change, and relief isn’t automatic: each district has to act, so the rules will keep diverging.
• Your gap may start before October 9. Maine, Oregon, Tennessee Eastern and both Central and Eastern California reach back to cases filed on or after October 7, and Kansas to October 8. Northern Florida and Connecticut point to October 6.
• Notices will come from new senders, in new formats, to old addresses. Debtors and their attorneys work from the creditor list in CM/ECF. Several courts warn that the list may omit addresses registered through EBN or NCRS, so notices may land at whatever address the debtor scheduled.
• Your BNC registration may not protect you. Northern Florida now says BNC registration is not a valid request for notice. To get notice there, creditors must file a Request for Notice in CM/ECF case by case. Watch for other districts to follow.
• Deadlines still run. Nearly every order we reviewed leaves statutory and rule deadlines in place, outside any district-wide Rule 9038 order. Relief comes by motion, case by case, and the motion must name the affected notice. Oregon, Northern Florida and Central California add that no adverse action may rest on an improperly noticed deadline, but that is a defense you have to raise, not a pause.
• The automatic stay doesn't wait for a notice. As we covered in What Creditors Need to Know and Do Right Now, the stay applies from the moment of filing, whether or not you were told.
• Expect duplicates when the BNC returns. Maine, Northern Florida, and both Central and Eastern California direct the clerk and parties to coordinate on duplicate notices and the backlog once service resumes. Creditors may receive the same notice from a debtor's attorney and later from the BNC.
• Rules differ by district and keep changing. Northern Florida has already replaced its first order, and Middle Florida has amended its own. A national portfolio now means tracking 22 or more local rule sets at once.

The practical answer is the one courts keep repeating: check the docket, not your mailbox. Or let us help! We're offering a free daily list of every bankruptcy filing while the BNC is down. Sign up here

3 ways BankruptcyWatch can help

BankruptcyWatch monitors the courts directly, so new filings reach you no matter who mails the notice or which address the debtor listed. Here is how we can help while the BNC is down, whether or not you work with us today.

1. Get an expert read on your risk. We'll connect you with one of our experts to review the risks you're likely to face during this outage, including the district orders above, and share how other companies are handling it. Chat with us
2. See every new filing, every day. We'll send you a free daily list of every bankruptcy filing from when the outage started through the next 2 weeks. It's all public PACER data and requires no borrower information from you. Sign up here
3. Close the gap for good. Get a free full-portfolio scrub when you sign up for our monitoring service. While this step involves a due diligence process, it closes the gap from the outage and ensures it never happens again by bypassing BNC notices altogether. Start your free scrub

Need to move fast? We can have you up and running within 24 hours, at your pace. Our Trust Center keeps all of our due diligence documents in one place to speed up procurement.

About this guide

This guide covers the orders we found as of October 26, 2026. Courts are issuing and amending orders daily, so we will update it as new orders appear. This article is general information, not legal advice. Talk with your counsel about your specific obligations.