⚠ Recovered from a scanned original by OCR — check the official PDF before quoting exact language.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 2 ot Pe bs
EL PASO DIVISION
ORDER
The Judges of the El Paso Division of the United States District Court for the Western
District of Texas desire to achieve greater efficiency, uniformity, and promote better
administration in the handling and processing of forfeiture cases, both civil and criminal, filed in
the E] Paso Division. To accomplish this, the Judges of this Division have determined that it is
more expeditious for one court to adjudicate all related forfeiture cases. Related forfeiture cases
are forfeiture cases that pertain to the same property or that arise out of the same transaction or
series of transactions.
Rather than have related forfeiture cases assigned to the different courts through a random
court assignment as is the current procedure in unrelated matters, the District Clerk is directed to
file the initial civil or criminal forfeiture case as it normally does on the basis of random court
assignment and any subsequent, related forfeiture case is to be filed in the same court in which
the first forfeiture case was filed. The District Clerk shall assign the subsequent related forfeiture
the case number arising in numerical sequence on the date and occasion of the filing, in either the
criminal or civil docket, as appropriate. In other words, the related forfeiture case will be given
its own cause number in the normal course of filing but will be assigned 10 the judge of the court
in which the initial case was filed. Thus, one judge will handle all related forfeiture cases,
whether they be all criminal, all civil, or both criminal and civil.
a
To assist the District Clerk in making a determination whether a forfeiture case is related
to one previously filed, the United States Attorneys office is directed to notify the District Clerk
in writing of the case style, cause number and the name of the judge in whose court the initial
forfeiture case was filed at the time it files its related forfeiture case. The United States
Attorneys office is further directed to notify the District Clerk in writing of any additional related
forfeiture cases that are contemporaneously or subsequently filed. Each notification submitted to
the Clerk shall identify all the preceding related forfeiture cases filed by case style and cause
number.
SIGNED nis day of April, 2006. a
IN
DAVID BR
KATHLEEN CARDONE
UNITED § ES DISTRICT JUDGE
FRANK MONTALVO
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
