Rule 19.06 Misdemeanors or Felonies - Rules - Applicable to Pending Proceedings

When new criminal court rules take effect, they apply to all cases going forward, including cases that are already in progress. This means if you're in the middle of a criminal case when these rules start, the new rules will normally apply to your case from that point on.

There's one exception. If using the new rules on a case that's already underway would create an unfair result, the court will use the older rules instead. This protects people from being harmed by a sudden change in procedure partway through their case.

In short, the new rules become the standard way of doing things, but courts have room to stick with the old process if switching midstream would treat someone unfairly.