Rule 2.41 Designation Of And Referrals And Reassignments To Magistrate Judges In The Eastern Division

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 2.41 Designation Of And Referrals And Reassignments To Magistrate Judges In The Eastern Division

A. Designation of Magistrate at Filing

There shall be a designation cycle for magistrates for each of the following assignment categories: Civil I, II, and III, and Criminal I, II, and III. The cycle shall consist of the names of each of the magistrates assigned to the Eastern Division. The names shall be arranged in order of seniority. Whenever a new case is assigned to a district judge using one of the assignment decks enumerated above, the clerk shall designate the magistrate whose name next appears on the designation cycle for that assignment category as the magistrate in the case. Whenever pursuant to Rule 2.21D of these Rules a new case is assigned to a district judge directly and not by lot, the magistrate designated for the case originally assigned by lot will be designated for the later filed case. The provisions of this section notwithstanding, 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.

B. Referrals in Civil Cases

Any judge wishing to refer a matter in a civil case pending on his/her calendar to a magistrate for actions encompassed in sections C and D of Rule 1.70 of these Rules will transfer the case to the Executive Committee. The transfer will be by way of an order on a form prescribed by the Committee which shall indicate the nature of the referral. If the Committee approves the referral, the case will be referred to the magistrate designated pursuant to section A of this Rule.

C. Referrals in Criminal Cases

The procedures used to refer a matter in a criminal case pending on the calendar of a judge to a magistrate for actions encompassed in subsections B(2) or B(3) of Rule 1.70 of these Rules shall be the same as those provided in section B of this Rule, provided that where a judge notifies the clerk in writing that he/she wishes to have criminal cases routinely referred to a magistrate for conducting arraignments and other pretrial matters, such notification shall act as a referral in lieu of the procedures specified in section B of this Rule. 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.

D. Reassignments of Consent Cases

Any judge wishing to reassign a case pending on his/her calendar to a magistrate pursuant to Rule 1.72E of these Rules will transfer the case to the Executive Committee. The transfer will be by way of an order on a form prescribed by the Committee. If the Committee approves the reassignment, the case will be reassigned to the calendar of the designated magistrate.

E. Appointment of a Magistrate as a Special Master

A judge may appoint the designated magistrate to perform the duties of special master pursuant to section D of Rule 1.70 of these Rules or, with the approval of the Executive Committee, may appoint a magistrate other than the designated magistrate.

F. Relatedness in Cases Assigned to Magistrate Judges

(1) Referrals

Where two or more cases are related, the designated magistrate judge in the lowest-numbered case of the set of related cases will be the designated magistrate judge for all cases in the set. The designated magistrate judge in the lowest-numbered case will remain the designated magistrate judge for the set as long as nay caeses in the set are pending.

(2) Cases reassigned on consent pursuant to General Rule 1.72E

Where all of the cases in a set of potentially related cases have been reassigned to magistrate judges on consent pursuant to Rule 1.72E of these Rules, the procedure for establishing relatedness shall be the same as provided by Rule 2.31 of these Rules except that the term "judge" shall be taken to mean "United States magistrate judge". Where a case in a set of potentially related cases has been assigned to a magistrate judge on consent pursuant to Rule 1.72E of these Rules and one or more of the other cases in the set remain pending on the calendar of a district judge, any case assigned to a magistrate judge shall be treated, for the purpose of Rule 2.31, as though it were highernumbered than the lowestnumbered case in a set pending on the calendar of a district judge, regardless of its number.

G. Recusals by Magistrates

(1) Duty Matter: Where a magistrate enters a recusal in a case assigned to his/her calendar pursuant to Rule 2.40 A or C of these Rules, he/she shall transfer the case to the Executive Committee. The transfer shall be by way of an order on a form prescribed by the Committee. Recusals in matters assigned to the calendar of a magistrate pursuant to Rule 2.40 A or C of these Rules shall be handled in a manner similar to that provided for recusals by district judges in section H of Rule 2.30 of these Rules.

(2) Referrals: Where a magistrate enters a recusal in a matter referred to him/her pursuant to section B or C of this Rule, he/she shall transfer the referral to the Executive Committee. The transfer shall be by way of an order on a form prescribed by the Committee. The Committee shall direct the reassignment of the referral to another magistrate by lot. The magistrate shall thereupon become the designated magistrate for the case. The clerk shall maintain a record of all such reassignments and periodically report to the Executive Committee.

(3) Consent Reassignments: Where a magistrate enters a recusal in a case assigned to his/her calendar on consent pursuant to Rule 1.72E of these Rules, he/she shall transfer the case to the Executive Committee. The transfer shall be by way of an order on a form prescribed by the Committee. Recusals in consent cases shall be handled in a manner similar to that provided for recusals by district judges in section H of Rule 2.30 of these Rules.

(4) Equalization: Periodically the Executive Committee shall direct the clerk to adjust the designation cycles established in section A of this Rule in order to equalize the number of referrals or reassignments on consent following reassignments due to recusal with equalization made under this Rule.

H. Assignment Deck for Reassigning Matters Between Magistrates

The clerk shall maintain a separate block of assignment cards for reassigning matters between magistrates pursuant to this Rule.

I. Designation Unaffected by Reassignment to Another Judge

Except as ordered by the Executive Committee, the magistrate designated for a case prior to its reassignment from one district judge to another shall remain the designated magistrate for that case.

J. Calendars of a Magistrate Who Dies, Retires, or Resigns

Cases on the calendar of a magistrate who dies, retires, or resigns shall be reassigned as soon as possible under the direction of the Executive Committee, pro rata, by lot among the remaining magistrates, provided that the Executive Committee may direct that such calendar be transferred in its entirety or in part to form the calendar of a newlyappointed magistrate. Referrals pending before a magistrate who dies, retires, or resigns shall be considered returned to the calendar of the judge before whom the underlying case is pending, provided that the Executive Committee may direct that they be maintained as a calendar for a newlyappointed magistrate. Where a judge wishes to rerefer a case returned to his/her calendar, the procedure set forth in section A of this Rule shall be followed except that where the Executive Committee approves the referral, it shall direct the clerk to assign it by lot. The clerk shall use the deck provided in section G for the purposes of such reassignments.

K. Calendars for New Magistrates

A calendar shall be prepared for a newlyappointed magistrate to which referrals made pursuant to sections B and C of this Rule and cases assigned pursuant to section D of this Rule shall be transferred by lot, under the direction of the Executive Committee in such number as it may determine. The newlyappointed magistrate will be the designated magistrate in all matters on his/ her calendar. Where a magistrate is appointed to succeed a magistrate who has died, retired, or resigned, the Executive Committee may direct that the new magistrate be the designated magistrate in all cases in which the former magistrate was the designated magistrate at the time of his/her death, retirement, or resignation.

L. Other Reassignments and Referrals

Where this rule specifies that a case is to be referred or reassigned to the designated magistrate and no magistrate has been designated in accordance with this Rule, the case will be referred or reassigned by lot using the block of assignment cards required by section H of this Rule.