United States District Court - Northern District of Illinois

General Rules

Rules 2.40 To 2.49 Assignment, Review And Appeal Procedures In Magistrate Matters

Rule 2.40 Assignment Procedures In Criminal Cases: Eastern Division

A. Duty Magistrate

The Executive Committee shall designate a duty magistrate for periods beginning on the first Monday of each month to and including the Sunday preceding the first Monday of the following month to perform duties as prescribed in 28 U.S.C. §636(a)(1) and (2).

Duties of the magistrate specified in B(1)(a)(m), inclusive, of Rule 1.70 of these Rules shall be heard by the designated duty magistrate.

B. Misdemeanors

Informations or indictments alleging the commission of a misdemeanor which, pursuant to Rule 1.70B(1)(n) of these Rules, may be assigned to a magistrate, shall (a) be assigned in the Eastern Division by the use of assignment cards with the name of each fulltime magistrate assigned to the Eastern Division appearing an equal number of times in the deck of cards, and (b) be assigned in the Western Division to the magistrate assigned to that Division.

C. Federal Enclave Duty Magistrate

The Executive Committee shall designate a federal enclave duty magistrate for periods beginning on the first Monday of each month to and including the Sunday preceding the first Monday of the following month to conduct trials of all misdemeanors which arise in federal enclaves.

D. Designation in Criminal Cases

Whenever a criminal case is filed and assigned to the calendar of a district judge, the clerk shall designate a magistrate in the manner provided in section A of Rule 2.41 of these Rules.

E. Emergency Magistrate

The magistrate designated as duty magistrate under section A of this Rule shall also act as the emergency magistrate. The emergency magistrate will be responsible for hearing any emergency matter arising in a case referred or assigned to a magistrate pursuant to Rules 2.40B or 2.41 of these Rules where that magistrate is not sitting. The definition of emergency matters set forth in Rule 1.22 of these Rules shall apply to this section.