UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
STANDING ORDER ASSIGNING PRISONER CIVIL RIGHTS CASES
FILED IN THE SHERMAN DIVISION TO A MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Effective March 1, 2025, and notwithstanding other case assignment orders of this Court,
the Clerk will randomly assign, at the time of filing, each prisoner civil rights case filed in the
Sherman Division to a magistrate judge in the Sherman Division to serve as presiding judge and
send each party a form to consent to proceed before the magistrate judge upon the party’s
appearance in the case. The assigned magistrate judge may also separately invite party consent.
If the plaintiff consents to proceed before the magistrate judge, subject to the consent of
each defendant, the magistrate judge is designated to exercise jurisdiction to conduct any and all
proceedings as provided in 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), to conduct the trial of the case, and to order the
entry of judgment in the case pursuant to Neals v. Norwood, 59 F.3d 530 (5th Cir. 1995). If the
parties do not consent, the Clerk will randomly reassign the case to a district judge pursuant to
General Order 25-02
. and automatically refer the case to a magistrate judge within the division of the
district judge for decisions on non-dispositive matters and findings of fact, conclusions of law, and
a recommendation for the disposition of the case.
This order does not apply to any case that was filed before March 1, 2025.
SO ORDERED and Effective as of the 1st day of March, 2025.
AMOS L. MAZZANT, III
Chief Judge
SEAN D. JORDAN
United States District Judge
