Divisional Instructions
Defendant’s Presence and Continuance of Case Disposition - In all cases, the Clerk of the Court routinely sets case dispositions once a week on Monday, at which time all defendants must be present. Both the defendant and the state may stipulate as to a continuance of a case disposition provided the movant submits a written stipulation and re-notice of hearing to the Court which contains the new date and time for the continued case disposition as well as the date of original hearing to be canceled. In lieu of providing the court with a written stipulation, a re-notice of hearing may be forwarded to the Court by mail accompanied by a cover letter indicating opposing counsel’s agreement. Case dispositions may be continued (only once) by stipulation by and between the parties.
Motions to Continue Plea Conferences and Status Checks - Plea conferences and status checks may be reset upon written stipulation and re-notice of hearing. The re-notice of hearing should indicate the cancellation of original hearing date, be filed with the Clerk and copy submitted to the Judge’s office. In lieu of providing the Court with a written stipulation, a copy of re-notice of hearing may be forwarded to the Court by mail accompanied by a cover letter indicating opposing counsel’s agreement.
Motions to Continue Trial - Trial cannot be continued by agreement, only by the Judge. All motions for a continuance for trial should be made at lease 72 hours prior to the trial and set for hearing.As is the case with all other “short motions,” hearing may be set any Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday at 9:00 a.m. (after checking suspension dates). Generally speaking, motions for continuances will be granted if (1) there have been no prior continuance given; (2) good cause is shown as to the need for the continuance; and (3) there are compelling reasons to grant the continuance. Otherwise, all motions for continuance may be respectfully denied.
Uniform Motion Calendar - Short Motion Hearings - Uniform Motion Calendar (any motions which will consume no more than five minutes of total hearing time) may be set any Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday at 9:00 a.m. Please check the website for suspension dates, which may be periodically updated. Opposing counsel should receive reasonable notice. Attorneys are encouraged to provide a “courtesy copy” of any written motions to the Court prior to the date set for hearing. Short motions may be withdrawn by the movant without order of Court.
Long Motion Hearings - Matters expected to consume more than five minutes may be set by contacting the Judicial Assistant. Upon receipt of a “courtesy copy” of the written motion (or other pleading requiring the hearing time), the Court will review the document and assign a date and time for the matter to be heard. Once a hearing date and time has been assigned, the movant must send notice of hearing to all counsel of record. Any “long motion hearings” cancelled by the movant shall, absent extenuating or exigent circumstances, be with prejudice and may not be renewed.
Preliminary VOP Hearings - Preliminary hearings are set each morning at 8:30 a.m.
Final VOP Hearings - Final VOP hearings are scheduled once a month on Friday at 10:00 a.m.
Trials shall be scheduled for a date certain.
Friday Settings - The uniform motion calendar is suspended on Fridays. Fridays are specifically reserved for hearings, trials, and other matters specially set by the Court by specific setting.
Motions to Recall Capias - As is the case with all other “short motions,” may be set any Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday at 9:00 a.m. (after checking suspension dates). As is the case with all other “short motions,” the movant must provide reasonable notice to the opposing party (if VOP, please send notice to probation officer also.) Although the Court must hear such motions on a case by case basis, generally speaking, the Court will grant such a motion if (1) the previous failure to appear by the defendant was the first and only previous failure to appear; and (2) there was good cause for the failure to appear; (3) the motion was made within a reasonable amount of time following the failure to appear and (4) the matter at which the defendant failed to appear was not a calendar call or trial.
