(a) Misdemeanors. Where a magistrate judge has not previously been designated pursuant to LR 72.1, information filed or indictments returned in the Eastern Division alleging the commission of a misdemeanor shall be assigned by lot among the magistrate judges sitting in that division. Similar information filed or indictments returned in the Western Division shall be assigned to a magistrate judge sitting in the division.  

(b) Federal Enclave Magistrate Judge. From time to time the executive magistrate judge shall approve a schedule designating the periods during which each of the magistrate judges sitting in the Eastern Division will serve as the federal enclave magistrate judge. The federal enclave magistrate judge will conduct trials of all misdemeanors which arise in federal enclaves.  

(c) Designation at Filing. Whenever a criminal case is filed in the Eastern Division and assigned to the calendar of a district judge, the clerk shall designate a magistrate judge in the manner provided in LR 72.1. Where an indictment or information arises out of one or more criminal complaints, the designated magistrate shall be the magistrate to whom the earliest of those complaints was assigned. Where multiple defendants in a single complaint assigned to a magistrate judge are subsequently charged in more than one indictment or information arising out of that complaint, the designated magistrate judge for each such case shall be the magistrate judge to whom the complaint was assigned.  

(d) Referrals. The procedures used to refer a matter in a criminal case to a magistrate judge shall be the same as those used to refer a civil case pursuant to LR 72.1, provided that where a judge notifies the clerk in writing that the judge wishes to have criminal cases routinely referred to a magistrate judge for conducting arraignments and other pretrial matters, such notification shall act as a referral in lieu of the procedures specified in LR 72.1. The clerk shall promptly notify the designated magistrate of the filing of any indictment or information assigned to the calendar of a judge who has filed a notice of routine reference.  

(e) Forfeiture of Collateral Hearings. Hearings and other matters relating to violation notices and forfeiture of collateral proceedings pursuant to LCR 58.1 shall be handled in the Eastern Division by the magistrate judge designated as federal enclave magistrate judge on the day the hearings are scheduled and in the Western Division by the magistrate judge sitting in that division.  

(f) Right to Proceed Before District Judge. If a proceeding assigned directly to a magistrate judge is such that a party to the proceeding has the right to proceed before a district judge and that party fails to waive that right, then the proceeding shall be reassigned to a district judge pursuant to LCR 50.4(b) as if it were an appeal from a judgment of a magistrate judge. The magistrate judge shall notify the clerk in writing of the failure to waive. The clerk will reassign the proceeding promptly following the receipt of that notice.  

                                                                                                                                                                       Amended March 22, 2019