E.D.N.Y. Division of Business Rule 1 — Categories and Classification of Cases; Courthouse Assignment
A published court requirement that applies in New York. Category: Local Rules. Effective February 17, 2025. Verified against the official source (E.D.N.Y. — Local Rules & Division of Business (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York)) on November 3, 2026.
Summary
E.D.N.Y. Division of Business Rule 1 — Categories and Classification of Cases; Courthouse Assignment: the court's own rule, verbatim from Rules for the Division of Business for the Eastern District of New York (Effective February 17, 2025), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: governs the categories, courthouse designation (Brooklyn or Central Islip), assignment and relatedness of cases among the judges of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York; adopted under 28 U.S.C. § 137 for the internal management of the court's case load.
Requirement
(a) Categories of Cases. Cases shall be divided into the following main categories: (1) Civil: (2) Criminal; and (3) Miscellaneous. (b) Civil Cover Sheet. The party initiating a civil action must file a Civil Cover Sheet, the form of which is determined by the Clerk. (c) Pro Se Cases or Prisoner Case Filings. Subject to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, pro se applications or claims by persons in custody shall be filed without prepayment of fees upon receipt, prior to decision on any in forma pauperis petitions. (d) Courthouse Designation (1) There will be separate Brooklyn and Central Islip civil, felony criminal and misdemeanor criminal assignment wheels. The Clerk will assign the case to judges using the assignment wheels for the courthouse to which a case has been designated. (2) A criminal case will be designated a Central Islip case if the alleged crime was committed wholly or in substantial part in Nassau or Suffolk County. Otherwise, the case shall be designated a Brooklyn case. (3) A civil case shall be designated a Central Islip case if: (A) the case has been removed from a New York State Court located in Nassau or Suffolk County; (B) in any Fair Debt Collection Practice Act case the allegedly offending communication was received in either Nassau or Suffolk County; or (C) in any other case, (1) a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim or claims occurred in; (2) a substantial part of the property at issue is situated in; or (3) a majority of defendants reside in Nassau or Suffolk County, except that in any action, not involving real property, against the United States, its officers or employees, the action will also be designated a Central Islip case, if a majority of plaintiffs reside in Nassau or Suffolk County. Otherwise, the case will be designated a Brooklyn case. For purposes of this Rule, a natural person is considered to reside in the county in which that person is domiciled; and an entity is considered a resident of the county that is either its principal place of business or headquarters, or if there is no such county in the Eastern District, the county within the District with which it has the most significant contacts. (e) Place of Trial. Subject to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 18 in criminal case, a case shall be tried at the Courthouse to which the case has been designated, except that where the Judge presiding over the trial is normally resident at the other Courthouse, the location of the trial shall be determined by the presiding Judge. The Courthouse at which a trial takes place may be changed upon the consent of all the parties and the presiding Judge. (f) Motion to Change Courthouse Assignment. A party may move to change the Courthouse assignment on the grounds that such action will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses or is otherwise in the interests of justice. Any request by a party to change a courthouse assignment shall be made by motion: (1) in a criminal case, within fourteen (14) days from a defendant’s initial appearance or (2) in a civil case, within the time allowed to respond to the complaint. Any motion under this subsection (f) may be denied by a Judge upon the grounds that the case assignment has been determined pursuant to Rule 2(e).
Source of truth
(a) Categories of Cases. Cases shall be divided into the following main categories: (1) Civil: (2) Criminal; and (3) Miscellaneous. (b) Civil Cover Sheet. The party initiating a civil action must file a Civil Cover Sheet, the form of which is determined by the Clerk. (c) Pro Se
- Official source
- E.D.N.Y. — Local Rules & Division of Business (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York)
- Source health
- Healthy · checked November 14, 2026
- Effective date
- February 17, 2025
- Last verified
- November 3, 2026benchpath-nyfed-rules-2026-11-03
Related rules
2d Cir. Local Rule 25.2 — Submission of PDF Documents
2d Cir. Local Rule 25.2 — Submission of PDF Documents: the court's own rule, verbatim from the rule's own page on the court's site (read 2026-11-03; the page sha-custodied). Court-level requirement: applies in every appeal and proceeding before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, alongside the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Duval County Local Rules Implementing S.B. 7 (Texas Fair Defense Act) — Order Amending Local Rules of the District/County Court of Duval County, amended July 11, 2022
Duval County's indigent-defense and magistration rules under the Texas Fair Defense Act (S.B. 7): who may be booked into the county jail and on what paper; arrest-case numbering; presentment to a magistrate within 48 hours (art. 15.16); the magistrate's warnings, counsel inquiry, interpreter duty, indigence determination and appointment of counsel within 24 hours of a request; the alternative appointment plan under art. 26.04(g)-(h) with annual applications, seven attorney categories (capital, first and second degree, third degree/state jail/misdemeanor, competency, appeals, post-conviction, extradition), CLE and experience standards, random rotation within each category, written acceptance within 48 hours, first contact by the end of the next working day, replacement and suspension of counsel, fee applications within five days of completing services and the compensation attachment ($500 pleas; $175/$150 hourly; $1,400 per jury-trial day; appellate caps); bail schedules by offense class with a personal bond office (fee $20 or 3%), pre-trial supervision and revocation hearings within two working days; arraignment settings and notice; repeal of conflicting rules.
Starr County Local Rules for the Judicial District Courts (229th and 381st District Courts, applying in part to the County Court at Law; approved May 31, 2018; approved and recommended to the Supreme Court by the Fifth Region's Presiding Judge August 9, 2018)
The 23 local rules of the Starr County district courts: definitions and the election of the Local Administrative District Judge (last Friday in January of odd years; two-year term from February 1); random, equal assignment of district cases and the County Court at Law's share (family cases, civil cases pleading $100,000 or less, misdemeanors); the case-numbering format effective January 1, 2019 (year, CV/CR/CRS/FM/TAX, five digits; CRS for the 229th, CR for the 381st); notice of visiting-judge assignments; electronically transmitted pleadings (cover sheet, seven-day fee window, returns of service and bonds on paper, one-hour clerk handling of child-protection filings); transfer of related civil cases to the earlier court and SAPCR transfer to the divorce court; pre-trial settings through the Court Coordinator; District Clerk duties and I-Docket access; severance; temporary, emergency and ex parte orders; uncontested matters first; assignment of related prosecutions and superseding-indictment numbering (S1, S2); the protocol for trial priority (jury over non-jury, criminal over civil, jailed defendants first, oldest case first, special settings by written reasons, duties of counsel with conflicting settings); court staff; jury impaneling; the ad litem/guardian ad litem/amicus appointment rotation, duties, vouchers within thirty days and objections within thirty days; and courtroom decorum and attire.
Local Rules for the Jim Wells County Court at Law — effective January 1, 2023
The Jim Wells County Court at Law's rules: ad litem, guardian ad litem and amicus appointment lists, qualifications, duties, flat-fee ($275) and hourly ($75–$125) compensation, voucher deadlines and fee objections; rules of administration with the 79th District Court (family-code cases and civil cases between $500 and $250,000 assigned to the County Court at Law); remote non-jury proceedings by Zoom with e-mailed setting requests, Dropbox exhibits and YouTube broadcast; settings, proposed orders, exhibits and courtroom decorum.