For each of the Eastern Division Offices in Akron, Cleveland and Youngstown, the Clerk
of Court shall cause to be created a separate electronic deck of case assignment cards for Civil
Category 1. For all of the Eastern Division Offices, the Clerk of Court shall cause to be created a
combined electronic deck of case assignment cards for Civil Category 2.
For the Western Division, the Clerk of Court shall cause to be created a separate
electronic deck of case assignment cards for Civil Categories 1 and 2.
For all offices in both the Eastern and Western Divisions, the Clerk of Court shall cause
to be created a single electronic deck of case assignment cards for Civil Category 3.
The electronic cards comprising each deck category will contain the category number and
the name of a District Judge. The name of each District Judge shall appear on that number of
cards in the electronic deck that corresponds to the share of cases assigned to that District Judge
pursuant to Local Rule 3.2.
The cards making up a deck shall be electronically shuffled so that the sequence will be
entirely by chance, and the cards shall be concealed so that the name of the District Judge will
not be known until the card is drawn. Relying upon the indicated category of the case and
selecting the appropriate deck depending upon the venue of the case (See Local Rule 3.8(a), the
Assignment Clerk shall randomly select a card from the deck of that category and venue. The
case shall be assigned to the District Judge whose name appears on the drawn card. New decks
of cards shall be prepared by the Clerk from time to time, as herein described, unless otherwise
instructed by the Court.
In the Western Division, decks for each category of civil cases shall be replenished as
soon as the decks are depleted.
For the Eastern Division, decks for Civil Category 1 shall be replenished only after all
Civil Category 1 decks for all offices in the Eastern Division are depleted. Thus, (1) if the
Youngstown deck is depleted first, Youngstown cases will thereafter be assigned to District
Judges from the Akron deck until that deck is depleted. When the Akron deck is depleted, both
Youngstown and Akron cases will be assigned to District Judges from the Cleveland deck. (2) If
the Akron deck is depleted first, Akron cases will thereafter be assigned to District Judges from
the Youngstown deck until that deck is depleted. When the Youngstown deck is depleted, both
Akron and Youngstown cases will be assigned to District Judges from the Cleveland deck. (3) If
the Cleveland deck is depleted first, Cleveland cases will thereafter be assigned to District
Judges from the Akron deck until that deck is depleted. When the Akron deck is depleted, both
Cleveland and Akron cases will be assigned to District Judges from the Youngstown deck.
When all of the Civil Category 1 decks in the Eastern Division are depleted, all will be
replenished and the assignment system herein described will start over.
The Assignment Clerk shall mark, on the first document of the case, the next consecutive
number and the name of the District Judge to whom the case is assigned. A record of all
assignments made shall be kept by said Clerk. Reports of case assignments shall be made
available to the Court upon request.
(See LCrR 57.12) Last revised 4/7/97. See Historical Notes for full revision history.
