31st Circuit - Guidance on Recent AO

The new Administrative Order on case assignments allows, upon a change of judge, a circuit civil case to be assigned to a circuit judge who primarily handles a criminal docket, and a circuit criminal case to be assigned to a circuit judge who primarily handles a civil docket. See 2026-AO02.

All circuit divisions operate under Local Rule 33.1 for the filing of routine civil motions. Under this rule, attorneys may set routine civil motions for hearing, upon proper notice, at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, subject to the Court’s availability and other scheduled court business. A routine motion is defined as one that can be heard in five (5) minutes or less. If a motion will require more than five (5) minutes, counsel must contact the division clerk to obtain a hearing date.

Judges who primarily handle criminal dockets will make reasonable efforts to hear routine civil motions on the date set by the attorney. However, their availability is more limited due to other scheduled court obligations. As a result, there may be a longer wait before a routine motion set in a circuit criminal division can be heard.

In all divisions, counsel may coordinate hearing dates and scheduling matters with the division clerk. Contact information for each division’s staff is available at this link.

If a case is assigned to a judge outside the judge’s primary case assignment, it is recommended that counsel contact the division clerk to address scheduling matters