Local Rule LBR 5003: Clerk – General Authority

LBR 5003: Clerk - General Authority

(a) Clerk's Authority to Sign Orders and Notices. The Clerk is authorized to sign and enter the following orders and notices without further direction by the Court:

(1) orders allowing installment payments of filing fees;

(2) notice and orders of abandonment;

(3) Chapter 13 payroll orders;

(4) orders reducing, disallowing, withdrawing, or transferring claims when requested by the claimant;

(5) writs of garnishment, executions, and orders to pay;

(6) orders dismissing bankruptcy proceedings and adversary complaints due to CM/ECF error;

(7) orders granting motions to delay entry of discharge;

(8) orders permitting pleadings or other documents to be filed conventionally (i.e., on paper); and

(9) orders correcting administrative errors (e.g. erroneously closed cases and mistakenly entered discharges).

(b) Clerk's Actions Reviewable. An order signed and entered by the Clerk under this Rule may be reviewed, suspended, altered, or rescinded by the Court if requested by a party affected by that order.

(c) Clerk's Authority to Redact. The Clerk's authority under this Rule includes the authority to redact filings that disclose personal identifiers in violation of Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9037(a). However, nothing in this Rule imposes a duty on the Clerk to make the redaction. If the Clerk does redact a document, the redacted document will replace the original that appears for public viewing in CM/ECF.

(d) Assignment of New Cases. The Clerk will assign new cases to a judge consistent with a formula approved by the sitting judges of the Court. If a debtor has filed a prior bankruptcy case that was assigned to a particular judge and the debtor subsequently files another bankruptcy case, the Clerk will immediately reassign the subsequent case to the bankruptcy judge who was assigned to preside over the prior bankruptcy case, except:

(1) when the prior judge was assigned to a particular location for holding court but is no longer responsible for that location; or

(2) when the current judge who is handling a subsequently filed case advises the Clerk that the current judge desires to continue to preside over the subsequent case.