UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
IN RE: CASE ASSIGNMENT GENERAL ORDER
NO. 23-16
***
By unanimous agreement of the judges of this Court and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
137, LR 40. l (a) and LCrR 50.l(a), all civil, criminal, and miscellaneous cases filed as of
this date shall be assigned, or reassigned due to recusal, in accordance with this General
Order.
The goal of this General Order is to provide a system for assigning the Court's cases
among its judges in a manner that ensures an approximately equal distribution of newly filed
cases to each of the active judges, and a percentage to whichever of the senior judges elects
to take a lower distribution. This Order does not vest any rights in litigants or members of
the bar and is adopted for the internal management of the Court's case load.
DISTRICT JUDGE CASE ASSIGNMENT
Pursuant to LR 3.2 and LCrR 18.2, all cases commenced in or transferred to the Court
shall be assigned to an individual jury division, each of which contains an electronic deck of case
assignment cards. Once a case is assigned to a division, it will receive a case number. A separate
sequence of case numbers is maintained for each division's civil ("cv"), criminal ("cr"),
miscellaneous ("mc"), magistrate judge ("mj") and petty offense ("po") cases.1
These case assignment cards, in turn, contain the name(s) of the judge or judges who
draw cases from that division in the percentages set forth herein. To the extent that multiple
judges draw from a given division, the case assignment cards comprising each case assignment
deck shall be electronically shuffled so that the sequence will be random. The cards shall be
concealed such that the name of the judge will not be known until the card is drawn.
PRO SE PRISONER CASES
Each case filed within the Western District of Kentucky pursuant to 42 § U.S.C. 1983, 28
U.S.C. § 2241 and 28 U.S.C. §2254 by a prisoner proceeding pro se shall be assigned to
Senior Judges Charles R. Simpson III and Joseph H. McKinley, Jr.2 Any such case that is
closed in which a motion or other pleading requiring judicial action is filed shall similarly
be assigned to Senior Judges Charles R. Simpson III and Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr.
The proportion of cases assigned to each judge will be adjusted as the Court deems
1
The Court maintains two (2) separate criminal case assignment decks, both of which contain the same proportions
of case assignment cards. One deck is reserved for criminal cases in which the jurisdiction of a probationer or
supervised releasee is transferred to the Court pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3605, and another deck is reserved for all other
criminal cases. A case assigned from one deck shall not impact the number of cases to be assigned from the other
deck.
2
The term "prisoner" shall mean any person incarcerated or detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of,
sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation,
pretrial release, or diversionary program.
necessary to balance the number of cases assigned to these judicial officers, maximize
judicial resources, and ensure the timely handling of cases.
Any pro se prisoner case in which Judge Simpson recuses shall be reassigned to Judge
McKinley. Any pro se prisoner case in which Judge McKinley recuses shall be
reassigned to Judge Simpson.
DEATH PENALTY CASES
General Order No. 2012-06 shall govern the assignment of all habeas corpus
petitions filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 by a petitioner under a sentence of death,
regardless of whether an execution date has been set, and all civil actions filed by a
plaintiff under a sentence of death challenging the manner or method of execution,
regardless of whether an execution date has been set.
SOCIAL SECURITY CASES
General Order No. 23-02, in conjunction with this Order, shall govern the assignment of
all cases instituted by a plaintiff against the Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to
42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Senior Judge Charles R. Simpson III shall draw 50% of all such
cases filed during a given calendar year in which the parties have not consented to
Magistrate Judge jurisdiction, regardless of the division to which the case is assigned.
LOUISVILLE CASES
Chief Judge Greg N. Stivers, Judge David J. Hale, Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, Judge
Claria Horn Boom, Judge Benjamin Beaton, and Senior Judge Charles R. Simpson
III shall each draw civil, criminal, and miscellaneous cases assigned to the Louisville
division on a random basis. In order to equalize the distribution of the newly filed cases
among the judges in active service throughout the district each calendar year, the number
of cards each judge draws from the case assignment deck will vary based on the number
of cases assigned to each judge from the other jury divisions, if any.
Judge Boom shall draw civil, criminal, and miscellaneous cases approximately equal to
50% of the number of each case type assigned to a full-time active judge. Senior Judge
Simpson shall draw civil, criminal, and miscellaneous cases approximately equal to 25%
of the number of each case type assigned to a full-time active judge.3
Any case from which a judge recuses shall be randomly reassigned to another judge
who draws cases from the Louisville Division.
BOWLING GREEN CASES
Chief Judge Greg N. Stivers = 100%
Any case in which Chief Judge Stivers recuses shall be randomly reassigned to Judge
Hale, Judge Jennings, or Judge Beaton.
3
Senior Judge Simpson’s draw of civil cases from the Louisville division shall be adjusted to reflect all Social
Security cases assigned to him in accordance with the Social Security case assignment protocol described
hereinabove.
OWENSBORO CASES
Owensboro Civil and Miscellaneous Cases. Chief Judge Greg N. Stivers, Judge David
J. Hale, Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, and Judge Benjamin Beaton shall each draw civil
and miscellaneous cases assigned to the Owensboro division on a random, equal basis.
Any case from which a judge recuses shall be randomly reassigned to another judge
who draws cases civil and miscellaneous cases from the Owensboro Division.
Owensboro Criminal Cases. Chief Judge Greg N. Stivers and Judge Rebecca Grady
Jennings shall each draw criminal cases assigned to the Owensboro division on a random,
equal basis.
Any case from which Chief Judge Stivers recuses shall be reassigned to Judge
Jennings while any case from which Judge Jennings recuses shall be reassigned to
Chief Judge Stivers.
PADUCAH CASES
Judge Benjamin Beaton =100%
Any case from which Judge Beaton recuses shall be reassigned to Chief Judge
Stivers.
MOTIONS UNDER 28 U.S.C. § 2255
Any motion to vacate, set aside, or correct a sentence shall be assigned to the judge
who imposed the relevant sentence. However, motions that relate to a sentence
imposed by Senior Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr. shall be assigned in the same
manner as a newly filed civil case is assigned in the relevant division.
Should the recusal process outlined in this Order be exhausted, the Chief Judge shall
determine reassignment.
MAGISTRATE JUDGE CASE REFERALS AND ASSIGNMENT
Civil, Criminal and Miscellaneous Cases
A District Judge may refer a matter to a Magistrate Judge either directly or by way of
a Magistrate Judge referral deck. The Magistrate Judge referral deck for civil, criminal and
miscellaneous cases shall include Magistrate Judge cards that are apportioned among the
Magistrate Judges as set forth below. The decks will be periodically adjusted to reflect all
referrals made to the Magistrate judges, whether through the referral deck or directly.
LOUISVILLE CASES
Civil and miscellaneous case referrals shall be randomly divided as follows:
Louisville Magistrate Judges =50% each
Criminal case referrals shall be randomly, but evenly, divided among the Louisville
Magistrate Judges.
BOWLING GREEN CASES
Bowling Green Magistrate Judge =100%
OWENSBORO CASES
Bowling Green Magistrate Judge =100%
PADUCAH CASES
Paducah Magistrate Judge =100%
Any reference, and the scope thereof, whether made directly or through the
Magistrate Judge referral deck, shall be solely within the discretion of the District Judge to
whom the case is assigned.
Misdemeanor Cases
Upon the filing of an information, complaint or violation notice, or the return of an
indictment, all misdemeanor cases shall generally be assigned to a Magistrate Judge who shall
proceed in accordance with the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 340l and Fed. R. Crim. P. 58. Such
cases shall be assigned to an individual jury division at which time it will receive either an "mj"
case number if it involves a Class A misdemeanor or "po" case number if it involves a Class B
misdemeanor. Such cases are to be assigned to a Magistrate Judge as follows:
LOUISVILLE CASES, INCLUDING FT. KNOX CASES
Whichever Louisville Magistrate Judge has designated criminal duty at the time of filing.
BOWLING GREEN CASES
Bowling Green Magistrate Judge= 100%
OWENSBORO CASES
Bowling Green Magistrate Judge= 100%
PADUCAH CASES, INCLUDING FT. CAMPBELL CASES
Paducah Magistrate Judge =100%
Habeas Cases
Habeas cases shall be referred to the magistrate judges on a proportionate basis as
determined by the District Judges, giving due consideration to the existing caseload.4 Such
referrals may be made directly or through the use of Magistrate Judge referral decks. One referral
deck shall exist for cases filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241 or 2254 and another referral deck
shall exist for cases filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. These decks shall include Magistrate
Judge cards that are apportioned among the Magistrate Judges as set forth below.
LOUISVILLE CASES
All Magistrate Judges shall draw referrals from habeas cases assigned to the Louisville
division. The case assignment cards comprising both Louisville habeas case referral decks shall
be electronically shuffled so that the sequence will be random. The number of cards each
Magistrate Judge draws from the referral deck will vary based on the number of habeas cases
referred to each Magistrate Judge from the other divisions, if any.
BOWLING GREEN CASES
Bowling Green Magistrate Judge= 100%
OWENSBORO CASES
Bowling Green Magistrate Judge= 100%
PADUCAH CASES
Paducah Magistrate Judge= 100%
Transfers
Transfers between Magistrate Judges to equalize dockets and for other appropriate
reasons shall be entered from time to time upon concurrence of both the transferee and transferor
judges.
ASSIGNMENT OF CLOSED CASES
Any closed case that was previously assigned to the docket of a judge who is no longer in
active service and in which a motion or other pleading requiring judicial action is filed, is
referred to the Clerk of this Court for reassignment to another judge in the same fashion as new
cases are assigned in the relevant division.
Any case in which a prisoner seeks modification of an imposed term of imprisonment
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) in which Senior Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr. was the
sentencing judge shall be reassigned to a judge in the same manner as newly filed civil actions are
assigned in the relevant division.
4
Any habeas corpus petition filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 by a petitioner under a sentence of death, and any
civil action filed by a plaintiff under a sentence of death challenging the manner or method of execution, shall be
assigned and referred pursuant to GO 2012-06.
This General Order supersedes and vacates General Order 23-10.
DATED: December 1, 2023
ENTERED
J J. JR., CLERK
12/1/2023
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
