Local Criminal Rule 23.1 (S.D.N.Y. and E.D.N.Y.) — Free Press — Fair Trial Directives
A published court requirement that applies in New York. Category: Local Rules. Effective January 2, 2026. Verified against the official source (S.D.N.Y. — Local Rules (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York)) on November 2, 2026.
Summary
Local Criminal Rule 23.1 (S.D.N.Y. and E.D.N.Y.) — Free Press — Fair Trial Directives: the court's own rule, verbatim from Local Rules of the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (Effective January 2, 2026), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies in every civil, criminal, admiralty, patent and Social Security case before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as its series states, alongside the federal rules and any judge-specific procedures; adopted jointly with the Eastern District of New York and carded here as the Southern District applies them.
Requirement
(a) It is the duty of the lawyer or law firm, and of non-lawyer personnel employed by a lawyer’s office or subject to a lawyer’s supervision, private investigators acting under the supervision of a criminal defense lawyer, and government agents and police officers not to release or authorize the release of nonpublic information or opinion that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication, in connection with pending or imminent criminal litigation with which they are associated, if there is a substantial likelihood that the dissemination will interfere with a fair trial or otherwise prejudice the due administration of justice. (b) With respect to a grand jury or other pending investigation of any criminal matter, a lawyer participating in or associated with the investigation (including government lawyers and lawyers for targets, subjects, and witnesses in the investigation) shall refrain from making any extrajudicial statement that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication that goes beyond the public record or that is not necessary to inform the public that the investigation is underway, to describe the general scope of the investigation, to obtain assistance in the apprehension of a suspect, to warn the public of any dangers, or otherwise to aid in the investigation, if there is a substantial likelihood that the dissemination will interfere with a fair trial or otherwise prejudice the administration of justice. (c) During a jury trial of any criminal matter, including the period of selection of the jury, no lawyer or law firm associated with the prosecution or defense shall give or authorize any extrajudicial statement or interview relating to the trial, the parties, or issues in the trial that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication if there is a substantial likelihood that the dissemination will interfere with a fair trial; but the lawyer or the law firm may quote from or refer without comment to public records of the court in the case. (d) Statements concerning the following subject matters presumptively involve a substantial likelihood that their public dissemination will interfere with a fair trial or otherwise prejudice the due administration of justice within the meaning of this rule: (1) The prior criminal record (including arrests, indictments, or other charges of crime), or the character or reputation of the accused, except that the lawyer or law firm may make a factual statement of the accused’s name, age, residence, occupation, and family status; and if the accused has not been apprehended, a lawyer associated with the prosecution may release any information necessary to aid in the accused’s apprehension or to warn the public of any dangers the accused may present; (2) The existence or contents of any confession, admission, or statement given by the accused, or the refusal or failure of the accused to make any statement; (3) The performance of any examinations or tests or the accused’s refusal or failure to submit to an examination or test; (4) The identity, testimony, or credibility of prospective witnesses, except that the lawyer or law firm may announce the identity of the victim if the announcement is not otherwise prohibited by law; (5) The possibility of a plea of guilty to the offense charged or a lesser offense; (6) Information the lawyer or law firm knows is likely to be inadmissible at trial and would if disclosed create a substantial likelihood of prejudicing an impartial trial; and (7) Any opinion as to the accused’s guilt or innocence or as to the merits of the case or the evidence in the case. (e) Statements concerning the following subject matters presumptively do not involve a substantial likelihood that their public dissemination will interfere with a fair trial or otherwise prejudice the due administration of justice within the meaning of this rule: (1) An announcement, at the time of arrest, of the fact and circumstances of arrest (including time and place of arrest, resistance, pursuit, and use of weapons), the identity of the investigating and arresting officer or agency and the length of investigation; (2) An announcement, at the time of seizure, stating whether any items of physical evidence were seized and, if so, a description of the items seized (but not including any confession, admission, or statement); (3) The nature, substance, or text of the charge, including a brief description of the offense charged; (4) Quoting or referring without comment to public records of the court in the case; (5) An announcement of the scheduling or result of any stage in the judicial process, or an announcement that a matter is no longer under investigation; (6) A request for assistance in obtaining evidence; and (7) An announcement, without further comment, that the accused denies the charges, and a brief description of the nature of the defense. (f) Nothing in this rule is intended to preclude the formulation or application of more restrictive rules relating to the release of information about juvenile or other offenders, to preclude the holding of hearings or the lawful issuance of reports by legislative, administrative, or investigative bodies, or to preclude any lawyer from replying to charges of misconduct that are publicly made against that lawyer. (g) All court supporting personnel, including, among others, marshals, deputy marshals, court clerks, bailiffs, court reporters, and employees or sub-contractors retained by the court-appointed official reporters, are prohibited from disclosing to any person, without authorization by the court, information relating to a pending grand jury proceeding or criminal case that is not part of the public records of the court. The divulgence by such court supporting personnel of information concerning grand jury proceedings, in camera arguments, or hearings held in chambers or otherwise outside the presence of the public is also forbidden. (h) The court, on motion of either party or on its own motion, may issue a special order governing matters such as extrajudicial statements by parties and witnesses likely to interfere with the rights of the accused to a fair trial by an impartial jury, the seating and conduct in the courtroom of spectators and news media representatives, the management and sequestration of jurors and witnesses, and any other matters that the court may deem appropriate. In determining whether to impose such a special order, the court must consider whether the order will be necessary to ensure an impartial jury and must find that other, less extreme available remedies, singly or collectively, are not feasible or would not effectively mitigate the pretrial publicity and bring about a fair trial. Among the alternative remedies to be considered are: change of venue, postponing the trial, a searching voir dire, emphatic jury instructions, and sequestration of jurors. (i) Any lawyer who violates the terms of this rule may be disciplined under Local Civil Rule 1.5.
Source of truth
(a) It is the duty of the lawyer or law firm, and of non-lawyer personnel employed by a lawyer’s office or subject to a lawyer’s supervision, private investigators acting under the supervision of a criminal defense lawyer, and government agents and police officers not to release
- Source health
- Healthy · checked November 14, 2026
- Effective date
- January 2, 2026
- Last verified
- November 2, 2026benchpath-nyfed-rules-2026-11-02
Change history
- November 13, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
- November 6, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
- November 5, 2026Monitor detected a source-content or hash-basis change. Review the archived bytes before republishing dependent material.
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.