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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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IN THE MATTER OF ) GENERAL ORDER NO. 26-11
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ASSIGNMENT OF CASES AND ) (Supersedes General Order
12 DUTIES TO DISTRICT JUDGES ) No. 24-04)
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General Order No. 26-11
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Table of Contents
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I. ASSIGNMENT OF CASES TO DISTRICT JUDGES .............................................. 2
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I.A. Criminal Cases ..................................................................................................... 2
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I.A.1. Random Assignment..................................................................................... 2
6 I.A.1.a. Criminal Cases Generally ...................................................................... 2
7 I.A.1.a.(1) Preliminary Determination of Division......................................... 3
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I.A.1.a.(1)(a) Indictment or Information .................................................... 3
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I.A.1.a.(1)(b) Rule 20 Guilty Pleas ............................................................. 3
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11 I.A.1.a.(2) Adjustments................................................................................... 3
12 I.A.1.b. Complex Criminal Cases ....................................................................... 4
13 I.A.1.b.(1) Preliminary Determination of Venue ............................................ 5
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I.A.1.b.(2) Adjustments .................................................................................. 5
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I.A.1.c. Fast-Track Criminal Cases..................................................................... 6
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17 I.A.1.d. Probation / Supervised-Release Transfers ............................................. 6
18 I.A.1.e. Pre-Indictment Death-Eligible Matters.................................................. 7
19 I.A.2. Direct Assignment ........................................................................................ 7
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I.A.2.a. Previously Dismissed Indictment or Information .................................. 7
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I.A.2.b. Related Rule 20 Cases ........................................................................... 7
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23 I.A.2.c. Section 1326 Case Related to Supervised-Release Case ....................... 8
24 I.A.2.d. Transfer of Subsequent Probation/Supervised Release ......................... 8
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I.A.2.e. Indictment or Information Related to Pre-Indictment Death-Eligible
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Matter ................................................................................................................... 8
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I.A.3. Criminal Duty Judge ..................................................................................... 8
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General Order No. 26-11
1 I.B. Civil Cases ........................................................................................................... 9
2 I.B.1. Random Assignment ..................................................................................... 9
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I.B.1.a. Civil Cases Generally............................................................................. 9
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I.B.1.a.(1) Preliminary Determination of Division ....................................... 10
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6 I.B.1.a.(1)(a) Non-Removed Cases in Which the United States Is a
7 Plaintiff....................................................................................................... 10
8 I.B.1.a.(1)(b) Non-Removed Cases in Which the United States Is a
9 Defendant ................................................................................................... 10
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I.B.1.a.(1)(c) Non-Removed Cases Not Involving the United States ...... 10
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I.B.1.a.(1)(d) Cases Transferred to This District ...................................... 11
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I.B.1.a.(2) Adjustments ................................................................................. 11
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14 I.B.1.b. Removed Cases .................................................................................... 12
15 I.B.1.c. Bankruptcy Matters .............................................................................. 12
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I.B.1.d. Report & Recommendation Cases ....................................................... 13
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I.B.1.e. Capital Habeas Cases ........................................................................... 13
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I.B.2. Direct Assignment ...................................................................................... 14
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20 I.B.2.a. Subsequent Report & Recommendation Cases.................................... 14
21 I.B.2.b. Subsequent Capital Habeas Cases ....................................................... 15
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I.B.2.c. Challenges to Criminal Convictions or Sentences from This District. 15
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I.B.2.d. Civil Matters Ancillary to Criminal Cases .......................................... 15
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25 I.B.2.e. MDL Cases Transferred to This District ............................................. 16
26 I.B.2.f. Related Bankruptcy Matters ................................................................. 16
27 II. REASSIGNMENT OF CASES TO DISTRICT JUDGES ...................................... 16
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General Order No. 26-11
1 II.A. Senior Judges .................................................................................................... 17
2 II.B. Calendar Creation ............................................................................................. 17
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II.C. Voluntary Transfer ........................................................................................... 17
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11.D. Intra-District Transfers …………………………………………………….. 17
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II.E. Unavailability.................................................................................................... 18
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7 II.F. Recusal .............................................................................................................. 18
8 II.G. Motions to Disqualify ....................................................................................... 19
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II.H. Unavoidable Delay ........................................................................................... 21
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II.I. Identical Civil Cases .......................................................................................... 21
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II.J. Related Cases ..................................................................................................... 21
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13 II.J.1. Notice of Related Cases .............................................................................. 21
14 II.J.1.a. Criminal Cases ..................................................................................... 21
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II.J.1.b. Civil Cases ........................................................................................... 22
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II.J.1.c. Civil Forfeiture Case Related to Criminal Case .................................. 22
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II.J.2. Transfer ....................................................................................................... 23
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19 II.J.3. Groups of Related Cases ............................................................................. 24
20 II.J.4. Case Credit.................................................................................................. 24
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II.K. MDL Cases Transferred from This District ..................................................... 24
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III. EFFECTIVE DATE ................................................................................................ 25
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General Order No. 26-11
1 SCOPE AND PURPOSE
2 This General Order prescribes the procedure for assigning and reassigning cases
3 and duties to the district judges of the Court. Section I addresses the initial assignment
4 of new cases to judges (“assignment”), while Section II addresses reassignments from
5 one judge to another (“reassignment”).
6 A case may be assigned or reassigned by randomly selecting a judge or by
7 directly selecting a particular judge. Whether random or direct, however, assignments
8 and reassignments are made using the Automated Case Assignment System (“ACAS”),
9 a module in the Court’s Case Management / Electronic Case Filing (“CM/ECF”)
10 system.
11 To assign or reassign a case randomly, it is necessary to identify the group of
12 judges from which one judge will be selected. In keeping with language used by the
13 ACAS, such a group is referred to throughout this General Order as a “deck.” A deck
14 may be “district-wide,” in which case it includes all active district judges in the
15 district, or “division-specific,” in which case it includes only those active district
16 judges located in one of the district’s divisions (Eastern, Southern, or Western). A
17 deck also may be composed of some otherwise-identified set of judges. A senior judge
18 may elect to be included in any deck.
19 To ensure even case loads among judges, the ACAS is designed to equalize the
20 distribution of cases from each of its decks over a given period of time. To that end,
21 whenever a case is distributed to a judge from a particular deck, that judge receives a
22 “credit” in the assignment history of that deck. Adjustments to this process are
23 sometimes necessary. Thus, in some circumstances, this Order provides that a judge
24 will have a “card removed” from a deck, which is the functional equivalent of that
25 judge’s receiving a case credit in the assignment history of that deck. Likewise, the
26 Order sometimes provides that a judge will have a “card added” to a deck, which has
27 the effect of taking a case credit away from that judge in the assignment history of the
28 deck. When this Order provides that a judge is to have a card added to or removed
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General Order No. 26-11
1 from a deck, the Clerk will make the appropriate adjustments to the assignment history
2 of that deck. At any time, a judge may bring a case to the Case Management and
3 Assignment Committee for consideration of additional case credit.
4 I. ASSIGNMENT OF CASES TO DISTRICT JUDGES
5 This section governs the initial assignment of cases to the individual district
6 judges of the Court. Section I.A. addresses the assignment of criminal cases, and
7 Section I.B. the assignment of civil cases.
8 I.A. Criminal Cases
9 Unless directly assigned pursuant to Section I.A.2. (“Direct Assignment”), all
10 criminal cases will be randomly assigned to the district judges as described in Section
11 I.A.1. (“Random Assignment”).
12 I.A.1. Random Assignment
13 Where assignment of a criminal case is random, the assigned judge will be
14 selected using one of the following decks:
15 • General Criminal Assignment Deck (one for each division)
16 • Complex Criminal Assignment Deck (one for each division)
17 • Fast-Track Criminal Assignment Deck (one for each division)
18 • Miscellaneous Assignment Deck (one for each division)
19 The appropriate division for such an assignment is determined as indicated below.
20 Unless otherwise specified, for each case assigned from a given deck, the assigned
21 judge will receive one case credit in the assignment history of that deck and no case
22 credit in the assignment history of any other deck.
23 I.A.1.a. Criminal Cases Generally
24 Except as otherwise provided in this General Order, a case with a criminal case
25 number (i.e., d:yy-CR-xxxxx)1 will be randomly assigned from a division-specific
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The components of a criminal case number include a one-digit office code “d,” indicating
27 the division in which the case is first assigned (2 for Western, 5 for Riverside, 8 for Santa Ana),
followed by a two-digit indicator “yy” to show the year of filing, followed by an indicator of the case
28 type (“CR” for criminal), followed by a five-digit number assigned sequentially in each division and
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General Order No. 26-11
1 General Criminal Assignment Deck. The appropriate division for the assignment is
2 determined by the following rules.
3 I.A.1.a.(1) Preliminary Determination of Division
4 Subject to adjustments described below in Section I.A.1.a.(2) (“Adjustments”),
5 the appropriate division for cases to be assigned from a General Criminal Assignment
6 Deck is as follows, unless otherwise directed by the Case Management and
7 Assignment Committee:
8 I.A.1.a.(1)(a) Indictment or Information
9 Absent extraordinary circumstances, an indictment or information should be
10 filed in the division in which the majority of the events, acts, or omissions giving rise
11 to the crime or crimes charged occurred.
12 I.A.1.a.(1)(b) Rule 20 Guilty Pleas
13 A case transferred to this district under Rule 20 of the Federal Rules of Criminal
14 Procedure (“Rule 20”) and not subject to direct assignment under Section I.A.2.b.
15 (“Related Rule 20 Cases”) will be randomly assigned from the General Criminal
16 Assignment Deck for the division specified in the consent to transfer, if any is
17 specified, and otherwise from the General Criminal Assignment Deck for the Western
18 Division.
19 I.A.1.a.(2) Adjustments
20 In order to balance the number of cases assigned to judicial officers, maximize
21 judicial resources, and ensure the timely handling of cases, there will be determined,
22 and adjusted as needed: (1) a maximum number of cases allowed for random
23 assignment from the Southern Division’s General Criminal Assignment Deck during a
24 given period; and (2) a maximum number of cases allowed for random assignment
25 from the Eastern Division’s General Criminal Assignment Deck during a given period.
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resuming at the beginning of each year with “00001.” The assigned judge’s initials are added to the
27 end of the case number. For example, “2:12-CR-00001-RGK” refers to the first criminal case opened
in the Western Division in 2012. The case was assigned to the calendar of the Honorable R. Gary
28 Klausner.
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General Order No. 26-11
1 If it appears that the number of cases assigned from either deck in a given period is
2 likely to exceed that maximum number, filings that would ordinarily be randomly
3 assigned from the division’s General Criminal Assignment Deck may instead be
4 randomly assigned from the Western Division’s General Criminal Assignment Deck.2
5 If it appears that the number of cases so assigned to the Western Division will
6 substantially exceed a division’s maximum allowed number, the Clerk will promptly
7 notify the Chief Judge and the Chair of the Case Management and Assignment
8 Committee, who will consider whether any action should be taken.
9 If it appears that the actual number of criminal cases assigned within either the
10 Southern or Eastern Division for the given period will be substantially less than the
11 predetermined number of cases for that division, the Clerk will promptly notify the
12 Chief Judge and the Chair of the Case Management and Assignment Committee, who
13 may then direct the Clerk to include in the appropriate Western Division deck a
14 specific number of cards for each district judge in the division in question. Cases
15 assigned from a Western Division criminal deck to judges from the Southern or
16 Eastern Divisions will be credited against the predetermined number of cases allowed
17 for assignment within the Southern or Eastern Division for the given period.
18 I.A.1.b. Complex Criminal Cases
19 If a criminal case includes eight or more defendants in the indictment or if the
20 presentation of evidence (including cross-examination) in the government’s case-in-
21 chief will exceed twelve trial days, the government must file with the Court, at the time
22 the indictment is filed, a Notice of Complex Case that states which of these factors is
23 present. A case so designated (“Complex Case”) will be randomly assigned from a
24 division-specific Complex Criminal Assignment Deck. Subject to adjustments
25 described below in Section I.A.1.b.(2) (“Adjustments”), the appropriate division for
26 cases to be assigned from a Complex Criminal Assignment Deck is as set forth below
27 in Section I.A.1.b.(1), unless otherwise directed by the Case Management and
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This provision is often referred to as “the blackout rule.”
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General Order No. 26-11
1 Assignment Committee.
2 Upon the filing of a superseding indictment in a case not previously identified as
3 complex, the government must file a Notice of Complex Case if the number of
4 defendants or the time estimate for the presentation of evidence (including cross-
5 examination) in its case-in-chief has changed to meet the criteria of a complex case. If
6 so, or if the assigned judge learns that the government improperly failed to identify the
7 case as complex, the judge may notify the Clerk’s Office and receive one case credit in
8 the Complex Criminal Assignment Deck (in effect, have one card removed from that
9 deck) and have one card added to the General Criminal Assignment Deck.
10 I.A.1.b.(1) Preliminary Determination of Venue
11 Absent extraordinary circumstances, an indictment or information should be
12 filed in the division in which the majority of the events, acts, or omissions giving rise
13 to the crime or crimes charged occurred.
14 I.A.1.b.(2) Adjustments
15 In order to balance the number of cases assigned to judicial officers, maximize
16 judicial resources, and ensure the timely handling of cases, there will be determined,
17 and adjusted as needed: (1) a maximum number of cases allowed for random
18 assignment from the Southern Division’s Complex Criminal Assignment Deck during
19 a given period; and (2) a maximum number of cases allowed for random assignment
20 from the Eastern Division’s Complex Criminal Assignment Deck during a given
21 period. If it appears that the number of cases assigned from either deck in a given
22 period is likely to exceed that maximum number, filings that would ordinarily be
23 randomly assigned from the division’s Complex Criminal Assignment Deck may
24 instead be randomly assigned from the Western Division’s Complex Criminal
25 Assignment Deck. 3 If it appears that the number of cases so assigned to the Western
26 Division will substantially exceed a division’s maximum allowed number, the Clerk
27 will promptly notify the Chief Judge and the Chair of the Case Management and
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This provision is often referred to as “the blackout rule.”
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General Order No. 26-11
1 Assignment Committee, who will consider whether any action should be taken.
2 If it appears that the actual number of complex criminal cases assigned within
3 either the Southern or Eastern Division for the given period will be substantially less
4 than the predetermined number of cases for that division, the Clerk will promptly
5 notify the Chief Judge and the Chair of the Case Management and Assignment
6 Committee, who may then direct the Clerk to include in the appropriate Western
7 Division deck a specific number of cards for each district judge in the division in
8 question. Cases assigned from a Western Division criminal deck to judges from the
9 Southern or Eastern Divisions will be credited against the predetermined number of
10 cases allowed for assignment within the Southern or Eastern Division for the given
11 period.
12 I.A.1.c. Fast-Track Criminal Cases
13 Unless subject to Section I.A.2.c. (“Section 1326 Case Related to Supervised-
14 Release Case”), a criminal case in which a defendant is charged with violating 8
15 U.S.C. § 1326 (concerning “Reentry of Removed Aliens”) and in which a Notice to
16 Court of Fast-Track Case Disposition Under 8 U.S.C. § 1326 has been filed (“Fast-
17 Track Criminal Case”) will be randomly assigned from a division-specific Fast-Track
18 Criminal Assignment Deck.
19 I.A.1.d. Probation / Supervised-Release Transfers
20 Upon the Court’s acceptance of the transfer to this district of jurisdiction over a
21 probationer or person on supervised release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3605, the matter
22 will be given a criminal case number in this Court. The case will be randomly
23 assigned to a district judge from a division-specific Miscellaneous Assignment Deck
24 for the division in which the offender is to reside, unless the Court has previously
25 accepted transfer of jurisdiction over the same offender and opened an earlier case, in
26 which instance the subsequent case will be directly assigned, pursuant to Section
27 I.A.2.d. (“Transfer of Subsequent Probation or Supervised Release”).
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General Order No. 26-11
1 I.A.1.e. Pre-Indictment Death-Eligible Matters
2 Most criminal matters are not assigned to a district judge until after the United
3 States Attorney has filed an indictment or information and a criminal case number has
4 been assigned. Notwithstanding this general practice, upon the filing of an ex parte
5 application for the appointment of counsel to represent the target of a federal
6 investigation relating to potential charges that might be punishable by death, a district
7 judge shall immediately be randomly assigned from the Complex Criminal
8 Assignment Deck for the division in which the ex parte application for the appointment
9 of counsel was filed. Absent extraordinary circumstances, all pre-indictment ex parte
10 applications for the appointment of counsel should be filed in the division in which the
11 majority of the events, acts, or omissions being investigated are claimed to have
12 occurred, and should include the phrase “PRE-INDICTMENT DEATH-ELIGIBLE
13 MATTER” in the caption of the application under the title of the document.
14 I.A.2. Direct Assignment
15 Criminal cases described in this Section I.A.2. (“Direct Assignment”), and only
16 these criminal cases, will be directly assigned to a particular judge. If that judge is not
17 available or is a senior judge who declines to accept the case, the case will be
18 randomly assigned under Section I.A.1. (“Random Assignment”). Case credit will be
19 given as specified below.
20 I.A.2.a. Previously Dismissed Indictment or Information
21 Whenever a case assigned to a district judge has been dismissed before trial, and
22 a new indictment or information involves the same transaction(s) and at least a
23 majority of the same defendants, the new indictment or information will be directly
24 assigned to the judge to whom the dismissed case was assigned. The judge receiving
25 the direct assignment will not receive case credit in any assignment deck.
26 I.A.2.b. Related Rule 20 Cases
27 If a criminal case transferred to this district under Rule 20 involves a defendant
28 in a criminal case originating in this district and assigned to a judge, the Rule 20 plea
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General Order No. 26-11
1 will be directly assigned to that judge, and that judge will have one card removed from
2 the General Criminal Assignment Deck.
3 If, at the time a criminal case originating in this district is assigned to a judge,
4 one of the defendants has a Rule 20 plea pending in this district, the case originating in
5 this district will be directly assigned to the judge assigned the Rule 20 plea, and that
6 judge will have one card removed from the appropriate criminal assignment deck.
7 I.A.2.c. Section 1326 Case Related to Supervised-Release Case
8 When a criminal case charges a violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 against a defendant
9 who is serving a term of supervised release in this district for a previous violation of 8
10 U.S.C. §§ 1325 or 1326, the government must promptly file a Notice of Related
11 Supervised-Release Case. The new case will then be directly assigned to the judge
12 assigned the case in which the term of supervised release was imposed. The judge
13 receiving the direct assignment will have one card removed from the appropriate
14 assignment deck.
15 I.A.2.d. Transfer of Subsequent Probation/Supervised Release
16 After the Court has accepted the transfer of jurisdiction over a probationer or
17 person on supervised release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3605 and assigned that case to a
18 judge pursuant to Section I.A.1.d. (“Probation / Supervised-Release Transfers”), any
19 subsequent transfer involving the same probationer or person on supervised release
20 will be directly assigned to the same judge, without credit in any assignment deck.
21 I.A.2.e. Indictment or Information Related to Pre-Indictment
22 Death-Eligible Matter
23 An indictment or information filed in a matter previously assigned to a district
24 judge pursuant to Section I.A.1.e. (“Pre-Indictment Death-Eligible Matters”) will be
25 directly assigned to the same judge, without credit in any assignment deck.
26 I.A.3. Criminal Duty Judge
27 Each division will have at least one criminal duty judge to perform all duties in
28 connection with criminal matters not assigned to the calendars of the individual judges.
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General Order No. 26-11
1 Service as criminal duty judge shall rotate among all active district judges except the
2 Chief Judge. The criminal duty roster in the Southern and Eastern Divisions will be
3 set by agreement of the judges in each division. The criminal duty roster for the
4 Western Division will be set annually by the Chief Judge.
5 I.B. Civil Cases
6 Unless directly assigned pursuant to Section I.B.2. (“Direct Assignment”), all
7 civil cases will be randomly assigned to the district judges as described in Section
8 I.B.1. (“Random Assignment”).
9 I.B.1. Random Assignment
10 Where assignment of a civil case is random, the assigned judge will be selected
11 using one of the following decks:
12 • General Civil Assignment Deck (one for each division)
13 • Removal Assignment Deck (one for each division)
14 • Post-Removal Assignment Deck (one district-wide deck)
15 • Bankruptcy Assignment Deck (one district-wide deck)
16 • Report & Recommendation Assignment Deck (one district-wide deck)
17 • Capital Habeas Assignment Deck (one district-wide deck)
18 The appropriate division for such an assignment is determined as indicated below.
19 Unless otherwise specified, for each case assigned from a given deck, the assigned
20 judge will receive one case credit in the assignment history of that deck and no case
21 credit in the assignment history of any other deck.
22 I.B.1.a. Civil Cases Generally
23 Except as otherwise provided in this General Order, when a case with a civil
24 case number (i.e., d:yy-CV-xxxxx)4 is assigned to a district judge, it will be randomly
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The components of a civil case number include a one-digit office code “d,” indicating the
26 division in which the case is first assigned (2 for Western, 5 for Eastern, 8 for Southern), followed by
a two-digit indicator “yy” to show the year of filing, followed by an indicator of the case type (“CV”
27 for civil), followed by a five-digit number assigned sequentially in each division and resuming at the
beginning of each year with “00001.” The assigned judges’ initials are added to the end of the case
28 number. For example, “2:12-CV-00001-SVW (AJWx)” refers to the first civil case opened in the
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General Order No. 26-11
1 assigned from a division-specific General Civil Assignment Deck. The appropriate
2 division for the assignment is determined by the following rules.
3 I.B.1.a.(1) Preliminary Determination of Division
4 Subject to adjustments described below in Section I.B.1.a.(2) (“Adjustments”),
5 the appropriate division for cases to be assigned from a General Civil Assignment
6 Deck is as follows:
7 I.B.1.a.(1)(a) Non-Removed Cases in Which the
8 United States Is a Plaintiff
9 Except as otherwise specified in this paragraph, civil cases involving the United
10 States as a plaintiff will be assigned to: (1) the Southern Division if 50% or more of
11 the defendants who reside in the district reside in the Southern Division; (2) the
12 Eastern Division if 50% or more of the defendants who reside in the district reside in
13 the Eastern Division and the case is not assignable to the Southern Division pursuant to
14 (1); otherwise, (3) the Western Division.
15 I.B.1.a.(1)(b) Non-Removed Cases in Which the
16 United States Is a Defendant
17 Civil cases involving the United States as a defendant will be assigned to: (1)
18 the Southern Division if 50% or more of the plaintiffs who reside in the district reside
19 in the Southern Division; (2) the Eastern Division if 50% or more of the plaintiffs who
20 reside in the district reside in the Eastern Division and the case is not assignable to the
21 Southern Division pursuant to (1); otherwise, (3) the Western Division.
22 I.B.1.a.(1)(c) Non-Removed Cases Not Involving
23 the United States
24 Civil cases not involving the United States as a party will be assigned to: (1) the
25 Southern Division if 50% or more of the plaintiffs who reside in the district, or 50% or
26 more of the defendants who reside in the district, reside in the Southern Division; (2)
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Western Division in 2012. The case was assigned to the calendar of the Honorable Stephen V.
28 Wilson, and referred to the Honorable Andrew J. Wistrich for discovery matters.
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General Order No. 26-11
1 the Eastern Division if 50% or more of the plaintiffs who reside in the district, or 50%
2 or more of the defendants who reside in the district, reside in the Eastern Division and
3 the case is not assignable to the Southern Division pursuant to (1); otherwise, (3) the
4 Western Division.
5 I.B.1.a.(1)(d) Cases Transferred to This District
6 Notwithstanding provisions (a)-(c) above, civil cases transferred to this district
7 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404 will be assigned to the Western Division, unless the
8 transfer order specifies a different division.
9 I.B.1.a.(2) Adjustments
10 To ensure the equal distribution of cases assigned to district judges, , active
11 district judges are assigned 25 cards each from their respective division-specific
12 General Civil Assignment Decks.5 When the cards in a division-specific General Civil
13 Assignment Deck are exhausted, filings that ordinarily would be assigned randomly
14 from that deck instead will be assigned randomly from another division-specific deck6
15 based on which division with available cards in its division-specific deck has the
16 greatest number of district judges, as follows:
17 (1) if the cards in the Eastern Division’s deck are exhausted, then cases that
18 ordinarily would be assigned randomly from that deck are assigned randomly
19 from the Western Division’s deck until the cards in that deck are exhausted, at
20 which time, if there are cards remaining in the Southern Division’s deck,
21 additional cases are assigned randomly from that deck until the cards in that
22 deck are exhausted;
23 (2) if the cards in the Western Division’s deck are exhausted, then cases that
24 ordinarily would be assigned randomly from that deck are assigned randomly
25 from the Southern Division’s deck until the cards in that deck are exhausted, at
26 which time, if there are cards remaining in the Eastern Division’s deck,
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Senior judges may participate fully, partially, or not at all in the assignment of civil cases.
28 6
This provision is often referred to as “the blackout rule.”
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General Order No. 26-11
1 additional cases are assigned randomly from that deck until the cards in that
2 deck are exhausted; and
3 (3) if the cards in the Southern Division’s deck are exhausted, then cases that
4 ordinarily would be assigned randomly from that deck are assigned randomly
5 from the Western Division’s deck until the cards in that deck are exhausted, at
6 which time, if there are cards remaining in the Eastern Division’s deck,
7 additional cases are assigned randomly from that deck until the cards in that
8 deck are exhausted.
9 When all cards in all three division-specific General Civil Assignment Decks have
10 been exhausted, the Western, Southern, and Eastern Divisions’ decks are refilled
11 simultaneously with 25 cards per active district judge.
12 I.B.1.b. Removed Cases
13 Except as provided below, a case removed from state court will be randomly
14 assigned from a division-specific Removal Assignment Deck for the division
15 embracing the place where the state court action was pending.
16 To balance the number of removed cases assigned to the judges of the Eastern,
17 Southern, and Western Divisions, there will be determined a maximum number of
18 removed cases allowed for assignment from the Eastern Division Removal Assignment
19 Deck for a given period. This number will be adjusted as needed. When the
20 predetermined number of removed cases has been assigned from the Eastern Division
21 Removal Assignment Deck for the given period, all additional cases that would
22 ordinarily be assigned from that deck during that period will instead be assigned
23 through the Eastern Division Miscellaneous Deck, then immediately reassigned
24 through a district-wide Post-Removal Assignment Deck.
25 I.B.1.c. Bankruptcy Matters
26 Unless directly assigned pursuant to Section I.B.2.f. (“Related Bankruptcy
27 Matters”) or as otherwise specified below, bankruptcy matters filed in the district court
28 will be randomly assigned for credit to a district judge through a district-wide
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General Order No. 26-11
1 Bankruptcy Assignment Deck, regardless of the division in which any related
2 bankruptcy proceeding may be pending. Assignment of motions for withdrawal of
3 reference, applications for leave to appeal an interlocutory order from the bankruptcy
4 court, and in forma pauperis applications on motions to file bankruptcy appeals, will
5 be for case credit only if the motion or application is granted; the matter permitted to
6 continue in the district court will remain with the district judge who granted the motion
7 or application.
8 I.B.1.d. Report & Recommendation Cases
9 Unless directly assigned pursuant to Section I.B.2.a. (“Subsequent Report &
10 Recommendation Cases”) or as otherwise specified below, cases automatically
11 referred to a magistrate judge for a Report & Recommendation (i.e., social security
12 disability cases, non-capital habeas corpus petitions arising from criminal convictions
13 imposed by any other court, and pro se Section 1983 and Bivens cases with no federal
14 judicial officer defendants) (“Report & Recommendation Cases”) will be randomly
15 assigned to a district judge through a district-wide Report & Recommendation
16 Assignment Deck.
17 I.B.1.e. Capital Habeas Cases
18 Unless directly assigned pursuant to Section I.B.2.b. (“Subsequent Capital
19 Habeas Cases”), capital habeas corpus petitions will be randomly assigned to a district
20 judge through a district-wide Capital Habeas Assignment Deck.
21 I.B.1.f. Cases Challenging or Enforcing State or Federal Law
22 and Seeking Declaratory Judgment/Injunctive Relief
23 The Court will assign randomly the following cases through a district-wide
24 deck: civil actions seeking to bar or mandate statewide enforcement of a state law,
25 including a rule, regulation, policy, or order of the executive branch or a state agency,
26 whether by declaratory judgment and/or any form of injunctive relief; and civil actions
27 seeking to bar or mandate nationwide enforcement of a federal law, including a rule,
28 regulation, policy, or order of the executive branch or a federal agency, whether by
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General Order No. 26-11
1 declaratory judgment and/or any form of injunctive relief.
2 If such relief is sought when the case is opened, the parties must identify on the
3 Civil Cover Sheet that the remedy sought has implications beyond the parties before
4 the Court or that the case seeks to bar or mandate statewide or nationwide enforcement
5 of a state or federal law.
6 If such relief is sought after the case is opened, the parties must identify that
7 prominently on the caption of their filing and give separate notice to the Clerk of the
8 filing. The Clerk must report the filing to the Chief Judge and the Chair of the Case
9 Management and Assignment Committee.
10 If such relief is added after the case is opened and prior to the issuance of a
11 scheduling order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16, the judge to whom
12 the case is assigned must transfer the case back to the Clerk for random reassignment
13 on the district-wide deck. If such relief is added after the case is opened and after the
14 issuance of a scheduling order, the judge to whom the case is assigned must notify the
15 Chief Judge and the Chair of the Case Management and Assignment Committee, for
16 determination by the Case Management and Assignment Committee whether the case
17 should be reassigned on the district-wide deck.
18 I.B.2. Direct Assignment
19 Civil cases described in this Section I.B.2., and only these civil cases, will be
20 directly assigned to a particular judge. If that judge is not available or is a senior judge
21 who declines to accept the case, the case will be randomly assigned under Section
22 I.B.1. (“Random Assignment”) or as otherwise specified below. Case credit will be
23 given as specified below.
24 I.B.2.a. Subsequent Report & Recommendation Cases
25 A Report & Recommendation Case (see Section I.B.1.d.) filed by a party who
26 previously filed a Report & Recommendation Case will be directly assigned to the
27 district judge to whom the earlier case was assigned. The judge receiving the direct
28 assignment will have one card removed from the Report & Recommendation
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General Order No. 26-11
1 Assignment Deck.
2 I.B.2.b. Subsequent Capital Habeas Cases
3 A capital habeas corpus petition filed by a petitioner who has previously sought
4 relief in this Court with respect to the same conviction will be directly assigned to the
5 district judge assigned the earlier petition. The judge receiving the direct assignment
6 will have one card removed from the Capital Habeas Assignment Deck.
7 I.B.2.c. Challenges to Criminal Convictions or Sentences from
8 This District
9 A motion or petition challenging a conviction or sentence imposed in this
10 district, regardless of whether the motion or petition specifically invokes 28 U.S.C. §
11 2255 or § 2241, will be given a civil case number and directly assigned to the judge
12 who entered the judgment. The judge will not receive case credit in any assignment
13 deck. If the judge is not available or is a senior judge who declines to accept the
14 matter, the matter will be randomly assigned from the General Civil Assignment Deck
15 for the division in which the judgment was entered, with the normal case credit that
16 such an assignment provides. In that event, the underlying criminal case will be
17 reassigned to the same judge, without any additional case credit.
18 I.B.2.d. Civil Matters Ancillary to Criminal Cases
19 Matters listed below will be given a civil case number and directly assigned to
20 the district judge assigned the underlying criminal case, if that criminal case is or was
21 pending in this district. The judge receiving this civil matter will not receive case
22 credit in any assignment deck. Unless otherwise specified below, if that judge is not
23 available, or if no district judge of this Court has been assigned to the criminal case,
24 the matter will be randomly assigned from the General Civil Assignment Deck for the
25 division in which the underlying criminal case would be assigned under Section I.A.1.
26 (“Random Assignment” of Criminal Cases). Matters contemplated by this paragraph
27 include:
28 (1) an application for a writ of continuing garnishment
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General Order No. 26-11
1 originating from a criminal case in this district;
2 (2) an application for a judgment-debtor examination
3 originating from a criminal case in this district;
4 (3) a motion to quash a writ of execution originating from
5 a criminal case in this district;
6 (4) a motion for a receivership originating from a criminal
7 case in this district;
8 (5) a motion for the return of seized property pursuant to
9 Fed. R. Crim. P. 41;
10 (6) a motion for bail forfeiture, unless the district judge
11 assigned to the underlying criminal case is not
12 available or no district judge has been assigned, in
13 which case the motion will be referred to a criminal
14 duty judge for the division in which the underlying
15 criminal case is or was pending.
16 I.B.2.e. MDL Cases Transferred to This District
17 Civil cases transferred to this district by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict
18 Litigation (“JPML”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 will be directly assigned to the
19 judge designated by the JPML. Credit will be limited to fifteen such cases, except as
20 otherwise provided by the Case Management and Assignment Committee.
21 I.B.2.f. Related Bankruptcy Matters
22 A bankruptcy matter bearing the same adversary proceeding number as an
23 earlier bankruptcy matter assigned to a district judge will be directly assigned to that
24 same judge. Case credit will be determined in the same manner as with random
25 assignments made under Section I.B.1.c. (“Bankruptcy Matters”).
26 II. REASSIGNMENT OF CASES TO DISTRICT JUDGES
27 Matters will be reassigned as follows:
28
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General Order No. 26-11
1 II.A. Senior Judges
2 When an active district judge elects to take senior status pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
3 371 et seq., it is the desire of the Court that the judge retain responsibility for his or her
4 existing caseload, both civil and criminal, until those cases have been closed.
5 A senior judge may return any newly assigned criminal case to the Clerk for
6 reassignment within 10 days of receiving it, and may return any newly assigned civil
7 case within 30 days of receiving it. Any returned case will be reassigned in the same
8 manner as an original assignment under Section I of this Order.
9 II.B. Calendar Creation
10 To create the civil calendar of a newly appointed district judge, cases will be
11 transferred to the new judge pro rata from the calendars of other district judges, unless
12 otherwise directed by the Case Management and Assignment Committee. The
13 transferee judge will not have cards removed from any assignment deck for such
14 transfer, and the transferor judge will not have any cards added.
15 If the new judge declines a transferred case due to recusal, the case will be
16 returned to the transferor judge. Where such recusal occurs within forty-five days of
17 the transfer, the Clerk will randomly draw a new case from the calendar of the
18 transferor judge for transfer to the new judge. Where recusal occurs more than forty-
19 five days after the transfer, the transferor judge may select another case for transfer. In
20 neither instance will the transferee judge have a card removed from any deck or the
21 transferor judge have a card added.
22 II.C. Voluntary Transfer
23 Any case may be transferred from one judge to another by order jointly signed
24 by the transferor and transferee judges, who need not sit at the same court location.
25 Upon such transfer, the transferor judge will have one card added to, and the transferee
26 judge one card removed from, any deck in which the transferor judge received credit
27 upon receiving the case, unless otherwise agreed between them.
28
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General Order No. 26-11
1 II.D. Intra-District Transfers
2 Motions and/or stipulations to transfer a case from one Division of the Court to
3 another are strongly disfavored because they undermine the Court’s efforts to ensure
4 equal distribution of the cases among the judges and such requests raise concerns about
5 forum shopping. In exceptional circumstances, if the assigned district judge intends to
6 grant a request for an intra-district transfer, they must present the request to the Case
7 Management and Assignment Committee for review before taking action. The Case
8 Management and Assignment Committee will review the matter and present a
9 recommendation to the assigned district judge as soon as possible. Ultimately, the
10 assigned district judge may exercise their discretion to rule on the request, having
11 considered the recommendation of the Case Management and Assignment Committee.
12 II.E. Unavailability
13 In the event of prolonged illness, disability, or other unavoidable unavailability
14 of a district or magistrate judge, the Case Management and Assignment Committee or
15 the Chief District Judge, in consultation with the Case Management and Assignment
16 Committee Chair, may transfer from the calendar of such judge any matters deemed
17 necessary to expedite the business of the Court and to promote the prompt
18 administration of justice. The Clerk will reassign such matters in the same manner as
19 an original assignment under this Order, or as otherwise directed by the Case
20 Management and Assignment Committee Chair. In addition, the Chief District Judge,
21 in consultation with the Case Management and Assignment Committee and, when a
22 Magistrate Judge is involved, the Chief Magistrate Judge, may remove a district or
23 magistrate judge from one or more decks when the judge is unavailable under this
24 paragraph.
25 II.F. Recusal
26 Except as provided in Section II.B. (“Calendar Creation”), if a judge voluntarily
27 recuses himself or herself from a case, the case will be returned to the Clerk for
28 reassignment in the same manner as an original assignment under Section I of this
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General Order No. 26-11
1 Order. If all judges in a division recuse themselves from a particular case assigned
2 from a division-specific deck, the case will be randomly assigned from the
3 corresponding deck in another division. If a recusing judge believes the case is one in
4 which recusal of the entire Court may be necessary, that judge should notify the Chief
5 Judge.
6 If a judge recuses himself or herself from a case within 120 days after first
7 receiving it, and that judge received credit in any deck upon receipt of the case, he or
8 she will have one card added to that deck upon the case’s reassignment. If a judge
9 recuses himself or herself from a civil case more than 120 days after first receiving it,
10 the judge to whom the case is reassigned will have the option, within 21 days of
11 receiving the case, of transferring a civil case of equal or similar weight and
12 complexity from his or her calendar to the judge who recused himself or herself. If the
13 receiving judge exercises this option, no cards will be adjusted in any deck for either
14 judge. If the receiving judge does not exercise this option, and the recusing judge
15 originally received case credit in any deck, the recusing judge will have one card added
16 to that deck upon the case’s reassignment, and the receiving judge will have one card
17 removed from that deck.
18 If, as provided in the foregoing paragraph, the judge to whom the case is
19 reassigned exercises the option to transfer a case to the recusing judge, the latter may
20 appeal the case selected for transfer to the Case Management and Assignment
21 Committee as not being “a case of equal or similar weight and complexity.” The
22 Committee will then approve or disapprove the transfer. If the Committee
23 disapproves, the case will be returned to the transferor judge and that judge may select
24 another civil case for transfer.
25 II.G. Motions to Disqualify
26 If a motion is made to disqualify a district judge in any case, the motion must
27 first be reviewed by the district judge to whom that case is assigned, even if that judge
28 is the subject of the motion to disqualify. The assigned judge may grant the motion,
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General Order No. 26-11
1 deny the motion, or refer the motion to another judge.7 If the assigned judge
2 determines that the motion to disqualify should be referred to another judge, the
3 assigned judge may refer the motion to the Clerk for random assignment to another
4 district judge in the same division from a division-specific Motions to Disqualify
5 Deck. If all judges in the Southern Division or the Eastern Division are unable to
6 accept a motion to disqualify because of disqualification or recusal, the motion will be
7 randomly assigned from the Western Division’s Motions to Disqualify Deck. If all
8 judges in the Western Division are unable to accept a motion to disqualify because of
9 disqualification or recusal, the motion will be randomly assigned from the Southern
10 Division’s Motions to Disqualify Deck.
11 A motion to disqualify a magistrate judge in a civil case in which no district
12 judge has been assigned will be randomly assigned from the Motions to Disqualify
13 Deck for the division in which the magistrate judge is located, unless the case has not
14 been assigned to a district judge as a result of the filing of an IFP application, in which
15 circumstance the motion will be directly assigned to the Chief Judge. A motion to
16 disqualify a magistrate judge in a criminal case in which no district judge has been
17 assigned will be assigned to the criminal duty judge for the division in which the case
18 is pending.
19 The judge to whom a motion to disqualify is assigned will promptly determine
20 the motion. If the motion is denied, the case will proceed as originally assigned. If a
21 motion to disqualify a district judge is granted, the case will be returned to the Clerk
22 for random reassignment in the same manner as an original assignment under Section I
23 of this Order, and if the disqualified judge received case credit in any deck upon
24 receiving the case, the judge will have one card added to that deck. If a motion to
25 disqualify a magistrate judge is granted, a new magistrate judge will be assigned
26 pursuant to General Order 05-07, or any successor General Order.
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General Order No. 26-11
1 II.H. Unavoidable Delay
2 If the calendar of a judge cannot accommodate the reasonably timely processing
3 of a case, the Court may, by concurrence of two-thirds of the judges (excluding the
4 judge whose case is under consideration), have the case returned to the Clerk for
5 random reassignment in the same manner as an original assignment under Section I of
6 this Order. If the judge from whom such a case is transferred received case credit in
7 any deck when first receiving the case, the judge will have one card added to that deck
8 upon reassignment.
9 II.I. Identical Civil Cases
10 When a newly filed civil case is identified as identical to a previously filed civil
11 case, pending or closed, the Clerk will prepare a proposed order to transfer the newly
12 filed case to the judge assigned the previously filed case and will present the proposed
13 order to the Case Management and Assignment Committee Chair for signature. In the
14 event of such transfer, the transferee judge will not receive case credit in any deck, but
15 if the transferor judge received case credit in any deck upon receiving the case, he or
16 she will have one card added to that deck.
17 II.J. Related Cases
18 II.J.1. Notice of Related Cases
19 Parties must promptly file a Notice of Related Cases in the following
20 circumstances:
21 II.J.1.a. Criminal Cases
22 Whenever a criminal case previously filed and one or more informations or
23 indictments later filed:
24 (1) arise out of the same conspiracy, common scheme,
25 transaction, series of transactions, or events; or
26 (2) involve one or more defendants in common and would
27 entail substantial duplication of labor in pretrial, trial,
28 or sentencing proceedings if heard by different judges.
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General Order No. 26-11
1 II.J.1.b. Civil Cases
2 Whenever a previously filed civil case and a later-filed civil case:
3 (1) arise from the same or a closely related transaction,
4 happening, or event;
5 (2) call for determination of the same or substantially
6 related or similar questions of law and fact; or
7 (3) for other reasons would entail substantial duplication
8 of labor if heard by different judges.
9 That cases may involve the same patent, trademark, or copyright does not, by itself,
10 constitute a circumstance contemplated by subparagraphs b.(1), (2), or (3).
11 The parties may file an objection to the Notice of Related Cases within seven
12 days of being served with it or within seven days of first appearing in the case.
13 Likewise, the judge assigned the higher case number identified as related (“the high
14 number judge”) may file an objection within seven days of the preparation of a
15 proposed transfer order. If the parties or the high number judge files an objection, the
16 Clerk will email a copy of the objection to the judges assigned to the cases identified
17 as related. Thereafter, the judges assigned to the cases identified as related will decide
18 if the cases are related within seven days after the objection is filed. If the judges
19 agree that the appropriate criteria are met, a low number transfer order will issue.
20 Absent complete agreement by the judges assigned to the cases identified as related, no
21 low number transfer will occur. If the judges do not reach an agreement, either judge
22 may petition the Case Management and Assignment Committee, which will determine
23 whether the case will be transferred.
24 II.J.1.c. Civil Forfeiture Case Related to Criminal Case
25 Whenever a civil forfeiture case and a criminal case:
26 (1) arise from the same or a closely related transaction,
27 happening, or event;
28 (2) call for determination of the same or substantially
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General Order No. 26-11
1 related or similar questions of law and fact; or
2 (3) involve one or more defendants from the criminal case
3 in common and would entail substantial duplication of
4 labor if heard by different judges.
5 II.J.2. Transfer
6 Whenever a party files a Notice of Related Criminal Cases, the Clerk will
7 prepare a proposed order to transfer the later-assigned case to the judge currently
8 assigned the earliest-assigned case.
9 Whenever a party files a Notice of Related Civil Cases, the Clerk will prepare a
10 proposed order to transfer the later-filed case to the judge currently assigned the
11 earliest-filed case.
12 Whenever a party files a Notice of Related Cases concerning a civil forfeiture
13 case and a criminal case, the Clerk will prepare a proposed order to transfer the civil
14 forfeiture case to the judge currently assigned the criminal case.
15 Such orders will be prepared regardless of whether the transferor and transferee
16 judges sit in the same division.
17 The Clerk will present the proposed transfer order to the transferee judge for
18 review and will simultaneously present an informational copy to the transferor judge.
19 If the transferee judge approves the transfer, the case will be transferred to his or her
20 calendar. If the transferee judge declines the transfer, the case will proceed as
21 originally assigned on the calendar of the transferor judge. If the transferor judge
22 disagrees with the decision of the transferee judge, the transferor judge may appeal that
23 decision to the Case Management and Assignment Committee, which will determine
24 whether the cases will be transferred.
25 If the transferee judge declines the related-case transfer because of senior status,
26 the judge assigned the declined case may direct the Clerk to transfer to him or her all
27 open cases before that senior judge that are related to the declined case. In that event,
28 the case that was declined by the senior judge will be considered the earliest-filed case
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General Order No. 26-11
1 for all subsequent related-case transfers.
2 II.J.3. Groups of Related Cases
3 When a transferee judge has accepted fifteen cases as related to the same earlier-
4 filed case (that case itself is not counted), the Clerk will report the group of related
5 cases to the Case Management and Assignment Committee. The Committee will
6 review the group of related cases to determine whether an alternative method of
7 assigning the cases is appropriate. The Committee may determine, for example, that
8 the entire group of cases should be assigned to another available judge for all
9 proceedings, or that the cases should be consolidated before one judge for pretrial
10 proceedings only.
11 II.J.4. Case Credit
12 Except as provided in the next paragraph, for each case transferred under this
13 Section II.J. (“Related Cases”), case credit will be adjusted as follows: if the transferor
14 judge received case credit in any deck on assignment, he or she will have one card
15 added to that deck and the transferee judge will have one card removed from that deck,
16 unless otherwise agreed between them.
17 Case credit for related-case transfers will be limited to fifteen, unless the Case
18 Management and Assignment Committee directs otherwise. The Committee will
19 review all groups of fifteen or more related cases at least semi-annually to determine
20 whether additional case credit should be provided or another case-assignment method
21 applied.
22 II.K. MDL Cases Transferred from This District
23 For any case transferred by the JPML from a judge of this district to an MDL
24 proceeding, and for which the transferor judge received case credit in any deck upon
25 assignment, that judge will have one card added to that assignment deck.
26 A case returned to this district by the JPML after processing by a multidistrict
27 transferee judge will be returned to the judge from whom the transfer was originally
28 made, and that judge will have one card removed from the appropriate assignment
24
General Order No. 26-11
1 deck. If more than fifteen such cases are returned to the same judge, the Case
2 Management and Assignment Committee will review the group to determine whether
3 an alternative method of assigning the cases is appropriate, as described under Section
4 II.J.3. (“Groups of Related Cases”).
5 III. EFFECTIVE DATE
6 This General Order is effective upon filing by the Clerk of this Court.
7 IT IS SO ORDERED.
8
9 ________________________________________
10 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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12 Date of Approval by the Court: June 11, 2026
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14 Date of Filing by the Clerk: June 29, 2026
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