Rule 14.2 Motions Before Allotment

Sometimes a person needs to ask the court for something before formal charges have even been filed. This could include asking for a preliminary hearing, asking the court to throw out certain evidence, asking for bail to be set or lowered, or filing a request like a writ of habeas corpus (which challenges whether someone is being held legally).

When this happens, the court still needs to keep track of the case properly. So the request gets its own docket number, and it gets assigned to a judge using the same random assignment process the court normally uses. This keeps the process fair, since it prevents anyone from picking which judge hears their case.

The only exception is if the case already has a docket number and already has a judge assigned. In that situation, the new motion just goes to that same judge instead of starting the assignment process over again.