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E.D. Tex. Local Rule CR-49 — Service and Filing: the court's own rule, verbatim from UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS LOCAL RULES (as of February 9, 2026), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies in every case before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas alongside the federal rules and any judge-specific procedures.
(a) Generally. All pleadings and documents submitted in criminal cases must conform to the filing, service, and format requirements contained in Local Rules CV-5, CV-10, and CV-11. (1) Defendant Number. In multi-defendant cases, each defendant receives a “defendant number.” The numbers are assigned in the order in which defendants are listed on the complaint or indictment. When filing documents with the court, parties shall identify by name and number each defendant to whom a document applies. (2) Sealed Indictments. In multi-defendant cases involving one or more sealed indictments, the government should, at the time the sealed indictment is filed, provide the clerk with appropriately redacted copies of the indictment for each defendant. The goal of this procedure is to protect the confidential aspect of the sealed indictment with regard to any defendants not yet arrested. (b) Public Access to Criminal Case Documents Generally. In order to serve the legal presumption of openness in criminal case proceedings, pleadings in this court are generally to be filed unsealed. Except for the documents listed in Section (c) of this rule, decisions as to whether to seal a particular pleading are made on a case-by-case basis by the court, with findings specific enough that a reviewing court can determine whether the sealing or closure was properly entered. (1) Absent specific court findings to the contrary, all documents other than those specifically listed in paragraph (c) below and those submitted with a motion to seal in accordance with Local Rules CV-5(a)(7) and CR-49(a) are to remain unsealed. (c) Authorization to Routinely Seal Particular Types of Criminal Case Documents. Despite the general rule cited in Section (b) above, there is an overriding interest in routinely sealing certain types of criminal case documents, because public dissemination of the documents would substantially risk endangering the lives or safety of law enforcement officers, United States Marshals, agents, defendants, witnesses, cooperating informants, judges, court employees, defense counsel, prosecutors, or their respective family members, and could jeopardize continuing criminal investigations. The documents that trigger this overriding interest are: (1) unexecuted summonses or warrants (e.g., search warrants, arrest warrants); (2) pen register or a trap and trace device applications pursuant to either 18 U.S.C. § 3121 et seq. or 18 U.S.C. § 2516 et seq.; (3) pretrial bail or presentence investigation reports and any addenda and objections thereto; (4) the statements of reasons in the judgment of conviction; (5) plea agreements,3 which are governed by Section (d) below; (6) addenda to plea agreements described in Section (e) below; (7) motions for downward departure for substantial assistance, and responsive pleadings and orders granting or denying the same; (8) motions pursuant to Section 5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines, memoranda in support thereof, responsive pleadings and orders granting or denying the same; (9) motions for reduction of sentence under Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b), memoranda in support thereof, responsive pleadings and orders granting or denying the same; (10) amended judgments pursuant to a grant of a Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b) motion; and (11) orders restoring federal benefits filed in conjunction with item 10 above. The documents listed above shall be filed under seal without need of a motion to seal or a certification by counsel. Other than plea agreements, the documents shall remain sealed unless otherwise ordered by the court. (d) Sealing and Unsealing of Plea Agreements. (1) Until it is accepted by the court, a plea agreement is in the nature of an unaccepted offer of terms between parties. In addition to the findings of Section (c) above, making a plea agreement public before it has been accepted may lead to publicity that would tend to prejudice a defendant who decides to exercise his right to trial by making it more difficult to select jurors who have not formed an opinion about the case. Such publicity may also provide details of the case pertinent to co-defendants who have not pled, thus prejudicing them. Therefore, plea agreements shall be filed under seal. (2) The plea agreement shall be unsealed when the terms and conditions of the plea agreement are accepted absent a further court order finding that there is an overriding policy interest in keeping that particular plea agreement sealed and providing findings specific enough that a reviewing court can determine whether the sealing or closure was properly entered. The routine unsealing of sealed plea 3 The plea agreement does not include the factual basis of the offense and stipulation or the elements of the offense, which are separate documents typically filed at the same time as the plea agreement. agreements is intended to serve the right of public access to criminal case documents. (e) Sealed Addendums to Plea Agreements. Every plea agreement in this court shall have an addendum that is sealed (see Section (c) 6 above). The addendum will either state “no provisions are included in this addendum,” or it will contain specific provisions dealing with possible reductions in sentence in return for the defendant’s substantial assistance to the government. This will allow each plea agreement to be unsealed upon sentencing without prejudicing or endangering a cooperating defendant or the defendant’s family or other informants and defendants. (f) In those instances where the court orders an entire criminal case sealed, case documents shall be e-mailed to the following addresses for filing by the relevant divisional clerk’s office: Beaumont bmtcrimdocs@txed.uscourts.gov Lufkin lufcrimdocs@txed.uscourts.gov Marshall marcrimdocs@txed.uscourts.gov Sherman shrcrimdocs@txed.uscourts.gov Texarkana texcrimdocs@txed.uscourts.gov Tyler tylcrimdocs@txed.uscourts.gov (g) Defendants proceeding pro se shall submit all sealed criminal case documents in paper format to the clerk’s office for filing. (h) Unless otherwise ordered by the presiding judge, counsel filing a document under seal must send a paper copy of that document to the presiding judge’s chambers. The paper copy should be sent directly to the judge’s chambers, not to the clerk’s office.
(a) Generally. All pleadings and documents submitted in criminal cases must conform to the filing, service, and format requirements contained in Local Rules CV-5, CV-10, and CV-11. (1) Defendant Number. In multi-defendant cases, each defendant receives a “defendant number.” The n