Local Rule Rule 73: PROCEDURES BEFORE A MAGISTRATE JUDGE – CIVIL CONSENT CASES
N.D. Miss. — Civil rule
Rule 73. PROCEDURES BEFORE A MAGISTRATE JUDGE – CIVIL CONSENT CASES
(a) Notice of Consent Option. Parties may consent at any time before trial to have a magistrate judge:
(1) conduct all further proceedings in the action and order the entry of final judgment; or
(2) hear and determine one or more case dispositive motions designated by the parties.
Either the assigned district judge or the assigned magistrate judge may discuss the consent option with the parties. The parties are free to withhold consent without adverse substantive consequences, and any notice or other communication from the court under authority of this rule will so advise them.
(b) Execution of Consent. If all parties in a civil action consent to a magistrate judge's exercise of authority described in L.U.CIV.R. 73(a), plaintiff or plaintiff's counsel must file with the clerk of court a Notice, Consent and Reference of a Civil Action to a Magistrate Judge (Form AO 0085), signed by all parties or their attorneys. A link to this and other national forms is available on the court's website. The notice will not be docketed without all such signatures; neither the notice nor its contents may be made known or available to a judge if the notice lacks any signatures required under this rule. A party's decision regarding consent must not be communicated to a judge before a fully executed consent notice is filed.
(c) Time for Consent. Consent in a civil action under L.U.CIV.R. 73(a) may be entered at any time before trial of the case.
(d) Reference of Civil Consent Action. An executed notice of consent must be provided to the assigned district judge. The district judge may then refer the case to the magistrate judge for all further proceedings.
(e) Party Added After Consent Occurs. A party added to a civil action after reference to a magistrate judge on consent will be given an opportunity to consent to the continued exercise of case-dispositive authority by the magistrate judge. A later-added party electing to consent must, within twenty-one days of its appearance, file a consent, signed by the party or its attorney, with the clerk of court. If a later-added party fails or declines to consent to the magistrate judge's exercise of authority, the action will be returned to the assigned district judge for all further proceedings.