United States District Court - Northern District of Illinois

General Rules

Rules 1.70 To 1.79 Duties And Powers Of Magistrates

Rule 1.71 Duties And Powers Of The Magistrate, Western Division

A. General

All proceedings before the magistrate of the Western Division shall be conducted in the regular courtroom assigned to the Judge of the Western Division.

B. Criminal Cases

In addition to the duties provided by statute and by the Rules of this Court, the magistrate for the Western Division shall have the following duties in criminal cases:

(1) Regularly receive the return of indictments by the grand juries for the Western Division, issue bench warrants thereon and set the bond of any and all defendants named therein; and

(2) Conduct preliminary review of all Western Division applications for posttrial relief filed in all criminal cases, and then submit a report and recommendations thereon to the judge assigned to the Western Division or to the judge who heard the case.

C. Civil Cases

In addition to the duties provided by statute and by the Rules of this Court, the magistrate for the Western Division shall have the following duties in civil cases:

(1) Hold regular status calls in the Western Division;

(2) Provide that notice of the status calls be mailed by the Clerk to all parties of record as specified in Part D of this Rule;

(3) Enter a minute order at the conclusion of matters being heard at the initial status call, at any subsequent hearing on status or at any pretrial conference, which establishes a date certain for the next status call or conference;

(4) Hear and determine all matters in regard to all cases filed in the Western Division as authorized under 28 U.S.C. §636(a) and (b);

(5) Place the case on trial call for trial when a final pretrial order has been filed with the magistrate in a case or when the case is otherwise ready for trial;

(6) When the Chief Judge certifies that a fulltime magistrate is not reasonably available, conduct any or all proceedings in a jury or nonjury case when the parties in writing specifically request the magistrate to exercise such jurisdiction.

D. Notice and Schedules

The Clerk shall send notices to parties of record informing them of the date of the initial status call when (1) an answer is filed in a cause in which instance the date of the initial status call shall be the next regularly scheduled status call not less than 25 days after the filing of the answer or (2) no responsive pleadings have been filed in a case within 40 days of filing in which instance the date of the status call shall be the next regularly scheduled status call not less than 5 days after the order is received.

All notification of dates of hearings by the Clerk shall be in writing and shall be made by mailing the notices to the attorneys of record as recorded on the dockets.