Local Rule LR 83.11: COURT ADMINISTRATION

LR 83.11 COURT ADMINISTRATION

(a) Divisions. The State of Minnesota constitutes one judicial district, divided into six divisions.

(b) Case Assignment. The court assigns cases to particular divisions and particular judges in accordance with the Order for Assignment of Cases that the court's district judges have adopted. The district judges may modify this order from time to time as they see fit.

(c) Offices of the Clerk.

(1) The Clerk of Court maintains offices in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth, and Fergus Falls. The clerk will post the offices' business hours and any closures on the court's website. The clerk's offices are closed on the following holidays:

• New Year's Day; • Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday; • Washington's Birthday; • Memorial Day; • Juneteenth National Independence Day; • Independence Day; • Labor Day; • Columbus Day; • Veterans' Day; • Thanksgiving Day; • the Friday after Thanksgiving Day; and • Christmas Day.

(2) In general, the clerk maintains the files for each pending matter in electronic format. A party may file papers relative to any matter in any office, and a party may get copies of publicly filed papers from any office.

(d) Calendars. The court operates on an individual calendar system. Questions about motions, hearing or trial dates, or other issues related to a particular case should be addressed to the courtroom deputy for the judge to whom the case has been assigned.

[Adopted effective February 1, 1991; amended November 1, 1996; amended October 29, 2003; amended May 14, 2013; December 1, 2019; amended April 15, 2022]

2022 Advisory Committee's Note to LR 83.11 Local Rule 83.11 has been amended by adding Juneteenth National Independence Day to subsection (c)(1)'s list of holidays.

2019 Advisory Committee's Note to LR 83.11 Local Rule 83.11 has been amended to provide that the clerk will post the office hours and any office closures on the court's website at www.mnd.uscourts.gov rather than specifying the office hours in the local rule.

2013 Advisory Committee's Note to LR 83.11 The language of LR 83.11 has been amended in accordance with the restyling process described in the 2012 Advisory Committee's Preface on Stylistic Amendments.

Subsection (c) (former subsection (b)) has been revised to better reflect the court's current practices with respect to what offices are open, what holidays are observed, and how files are maintained.

2003 Advisory Committee's Note to LR 83.11 The first paragraph of LR 83.11 (a) was amended in 2003 to conform to the current Court procedure of assigning cases to divisions and judges pursuant to the Order that may be revised from time to time.

1991 Advisory Committee's Note To LR 83.11 The division system of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota is a product of the Courts' modification of the division system established by statute to fit the practicalities of present judicial activity within the district.

By statute, Minnesota is divided into six divisions. 28 U.S.C. § 103. The statute provides that terms of Court shall be held in Winona, Mankato, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth, and Fergus Falls. A District Court retains the discretion to pretermit any regular session of Court for insufficient business or other good cause. 28 U.S.C. § 140.

The Court on two occasions has utilized its pretermission authority to effectively eliminate trials or hearings in three divisions. By an Order dated December 2, 1960, the Court pretermitted the terms of Court in the First and Second Divisions. In an order dated January 31, 1990, the Court pretermitted the terms of Court in the Sixth Division. The Judges of the Court maintain chambers in the Third Division and Fourth Division. Cases emanating from counties of the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Sixth Divisions are assigned to either the Third or fourth Division based upon the location of the chambers of the Judge to whom the case is assigned. Cases emanating from the Fifth Division are assigned to the Fifth Division regardless of the location of the chambers of the Judge to whom the case is assigned.

The remaining significance of the division system in Minnesota is two-fold. First, petit juries are selected by division. That is, cases assigned to the Third Division have their jury drawn from individuals residing in counties that make up the Third Division. The same is true in the Fourth and Fifth Divisions. Second, although the Judges of the Court maintain offices in the Third and Fourth Divisions, terms of Court are held in the Fifth Division for matters assigned to the Fifth Division.