Rule 83 Rules by District Courts

Local district courts can create their own rules for how cases are handled in their courtroom. If a court has more than one judge, the majority of judges must agree before making or changing a rule. If there's only one judge, that judge can make the decision alone. Either way, the state supreme court has to approve these local rules before they take effect.

These local rules can't conflict with the main statewide rules of civil procedure. They're meant to fill in gaps or address details the bigger rules don't cover, not to replace or override them.

If a situation comes up that isn't covered by any written rule, the district court still has some freedom to decide how to handle it. Again, whatever the court decides has to fit within the boundaries set by the main statewide rules. This means that while local courts have some flexibility to run things their own way, there are limits to keep practices consistent across the state.