In light of the two District Court vacancies, and in light of Senior Judge Sleet’s decision to retire from the bench in the fall of this year, the Court today announces revisions to the case assignment procedures it has been using since the prior announcement (September 22, 2017).
Beginning sometime in the Spring of 2018, Senior Judge Sleet will no longer be assigned new criminal matters. At and after that point, all new criminal cases will be assigned to the Court’s active District Judges.
For the time being, Senior Judge Sleet will continue to draw a share of new civil cases equal to that of the active District Judges.
The Court has begun the process of reassigning a portion of the civil cases currently on Judge Sleet’s docket, principally those scheduled for trial in 2018.
The procedures previously announced for assignment of cases to the Vacant Judgeship docket (“VAC”) remain unchanged. No new visiting judges have been added to the “roster” since the September 2017 announcement.
Litigants and counsel are reminded that they may consent to the jurisdiction of a Magistrate Judge to handle their case or to handle any particular case-dispositive matter within any case.
The procedures set out in this Announcement are subject to change at any time. The roster of visiting judges may also change at any time.