S.D. Tex. CrLR 18 — Place of Trial Within the District

High confidence· verified September 26, 2026Local Rules

Summary

S.D. Tex. CrLR 18 — Place of Trial Within the District: the court's own rule, verbatim from LOCAL RULES OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS (EFFECTIVE MAY 1, 2000), official PDF, sha-custodied. Court-level requirement: applies in every case before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas alongside the federal rules and any judge-specific procedures.

Requirement

A. Division in Which Prosecution and Trial May Occur 1. Unless a statute, other rule, or court order requires otherwise, the government may prosecute a case in any Division in the District in which the offense was committed, in whole or in part. 2. The court may fix the venue of a criminal case in any Division in the District, consistent with Fed.R.Crim.P.18 and this Local Rule. B. Multiple Offenses In cases involving multiple offenses joined under Fed.R.Crim.P.8(a), the court may fix the venue in any Division in the District in which any one of the offenses may be tried. C. Multiple Defendants In cases involving multiple defendants joined under Fed.R.Crim.P.8(b), the court may fix the venue in any Division in the District in which any one of the defendants may be tried. D. Intradistrict Transfer On a judge’s own motion or on the motion of a party, the judge in whose court the case was filed may transfer the case to a different Division in the District, if, after notice to the parties and an opportunity for them to be heard, the judge finds that the case was not filed in the proper Division or that transfer to a different Division would be in the interests of justice, based on the convenience of the defendant and the witnesses and on the prompt administration of justice. 1. If a case is transferred to another Division under Rule 18 and this Local Rule, the Clerk of Court will assign the case to a judge in the transferee Division in accordance with the plan for random assignment, unless the transferor judge orders that he or she will continue to handle the case after transfer. 2. If a case is retained in the Division where it was filed, the judge may direct the Clerk of Court to assign it to a judge in a Division in which venue would have been proper under Rule 18 and this Local Rule, in accordance with the plan for random assignment.

Source of truth

A. Division in Which Prosecution and Trial May Occur 1. Unless a statute, other rule, or court order requires otherwise, the government may prosecute a case in any Division in the District in which the offense was committed, in whole or in part. 2. The court may fix the venue of

Official source: S.D. Tex. — Local & Federal Rules (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas)
Source health: Healthy · checked October 4, 2026
Effective date: —
Last verified: September 26, 2026benchpath-appfed-rules-2026-09-25

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