S.D.N.Y. Division of Business Rule 6 — Criminal Proceedings
A published court requirement that applies in New York. Category: Local Rules. Effective February 12, 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
S.D.N.Y. Division of Business Rule 6 — Criminal Proceedings: the court's own rule, verbatim from Rules for the Division of Business Among District Judges, Southern District of New York (Effective February 12, 2026), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: governs the assignment and transfer of cases among the district judges of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York; adopted for the internal management of the court's case load.
Requirement
(a) Indictments designated for Manhattan may be returned by the grand jury in open court to the magistrate judge presiding in the criminal part. Indictments designated for White Plains may be returned by the grand jury to the magistrate judge presiding in the White Plains Courthouse. (b) Assignments In a criminal case, after an indictment has been returned by the Grand Jury or a notice has been filed by the United States Attorney's Office of an intention to file an information upon the defendant's waiver of indictment, the magistrate judge on duty will randomly draw from the criminal wheel, in open court, the name of a judge to whom the case should be assigned for all purposes. The notice to file an information upon the defendant's waiver of indictment shall be signed by the United States Attorney's Office and by the defendant's attorney. Waiver of indictment cases will not be assigned a criminal docket number until the waiver has been accepted by the assigned judge. Sealed indictments will be assigned a criminal docket number upon filing, but a judge will not be selected until such time that the indictment is unsealed. (c) Arraignments The United States Attorney's Office will promptly contact the judge to whom the case is assigned and request the scheduling of a pretrial conference at which the defendant will be arraigned. (d) Waiver of Indictments When any person offers to waive indictment, the judge to whom the case has been assigned will conduct or refer to a magistrate judge such proceedings as may be required by law to establish that the waiver is both knowing and voluntary before an information is filed. The judge or the assigned magistrate judge shall then arraign the defendant. If the defendant fails to waive indictment and is subsequently indicted on the same or similar charges, the case shall be assigned by the clerk to the same judge to whom the original information was assigned. (e) Assignment of Superseding Indictments and Informations An indictment or information designated by the grand jury or the United States Attorney as a superseding indictment or information will be assigned to the same judge to whom the original indictment or information was assigned and may not be reassigned from that judge except pursuant to the order of that judge or in the circumstances outlined in Rules 14 through 17. Any questions with respect to such designation as a superseding indictment or information shall be decided by that judge subject to appellate review where applicable. The judge may require the United States Attorney to explain in writing, either under seal or otherwise, the reasons for proceeding by superseding indictment or information before that judge rather than in another manner. (f) Each wiretap application will be assigned at random to a district judge for all purposes, including any periodic reports and applications for extensions. Any spin-off wiretap application (that is, a new wiretap application that incorporates by reference a prior wiretap application) shall be assigned to the same district judge. If a wiretap application incorporates by reference more than one prior wiretap application, it will be assigned to the district judge who handled the most recent such application, unless the district judges who handled the prior applications decide otherwise. (g) With the exception of Paragraphs (a), (e), and (f), which apply in Manhattan and White Plains, this Rule applies only to Manhattan. The judges in White Plains will continue to follow such procedures as they find convenient.
Source of truth
(a) Indictments designated for Manhattan may be returned by the grand jury in open court to the magistrate judge presiding in the criminal part. Indictments designated for White Plains may be returned by the grand jury to the magistrate judge presiding in the White Plains Courtho
- Source health
- Healthy · checked November 14, 2026
- Effective date
- February 12, 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.
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