Rule 2-105. Assignment and designation of judges.

A. Assignment. In magistrate courts with two or more judges, cases shall be assigned randomly among the judges of the court under a selection system administered by the Supreme Court, unless the presiding judge orders otherwise for good cause shown. Once a judge is assigned to hear a case that judge shall have sole responsibility for the case and no other judge may take any action on the case except (1) in cases where the judge has been reassigned because the assigned judge has been recused, is excused, is sick, or is otherwise unavailable and another judge has been assigned; or (2) with the approval of the assigned judge and all of the parties. B. Reassignment. (1) Courts with two or more judges. In magistrate courts with two or more judges, upon receipt of a notice of excusal or upon recusal, the magistrate court shall give written notice to the parties to the action. (a) Recusal. Upon recusal, the selection system administered by the Supreme Court shall randomly assign another magistrate judge first, to another judge in the originating court, or, if all of those judges have been excused or have recused, to another judge in the same magistrate district to preside over the case unless for good cause shown the presiding magistrate shall make a specific assignment. In situations where recusal would be required for multiple judges in a magistrate district, recusing magistrate judges may enter a joint recusal prior to formal assignment by the selection system in order to expedite the recusal process. (b) Excusal; reassignment. Upon the filing of a notice of excusal, the selection system administered by the Supreme Court shall randomly reassign the case first, to another judge in the originating court, or, if all of those judges have been excused or have recused, to another judge in the same magistrate district, unless the presiding judge determines that there is justifiable reason to assign a case to a particular judge and the reason is included in the notice of reassignment. (c) Designation by district court. If all magistrate judges in the magistrate district have been excused or have recused themselves, one of the judges on the district court’s order of designation shall be randomly assigned to conduct any further proceedings. The magistrate court shall send notice of the reassignment to the parties. The district court’s order of designation shall be entered at the beginning of the calendar year. (2) Other courts. In magistrate courts with only one magistrate judge, upon receipt of a notice of excusal or upon recusal, the magistrate court shall give written notice to the parties to the action. (a) Recusal. Upon recusal, another magistrate judge of the magistrate district shall be randomly assigned to preside over the case by the selection system administered by the Supreme Court. (b) Excusal. Upon the filing of the notice of excusal, another magistrate judge of the magistrate district shall be randomly assigned to preside over the case by the selection system administered by the Supreme Court. (c) Designation by district court. If all the magistrate judges in the magistrate district have recused themselves or been excused, one of the judges on the district court’s order of designation shall be randomly assigned to conduct any further proceedings. The magistrate court shall send notice of the reassignment to the parties. The district court’s order of designation shall be entered at the beginning of the calendar year. C. Assignment out-of-district. If a judge or an employee of the magistrate district in which a civil proceeding is pending is a party to that proceeding, no judge of the magistrate district may hear the matter and one of the judges on the district court’s order of designation shall be randomly assigned to conduct any further proceedings. The magistrate court shall send notice of the reassignment to the parties. D. Assignment of direct criminal contempt cases. Cases of direct criminal contempt shall be assigned to the judge before whom the contempt occurred. E. Reassignment to multiple cases. The district court judge may designate a magistrate judge from another magistrate district to sit in actions arising in a particular magistrate district for a specific period of time. F. Subsequent proceedings. All proceedings shall be conducted in the original magistrate court, except that with the consent of all parties and the assigned judge, proceedings may be held in another magistrate court in the same judicial district in which the original magistrate court is located. The clerk of the original magistrate court shall continue to be responsible for the court file and shall perform such further duties as may be required. Within five (5) business days after assignment or designation of a new judge, the clerk shall make a copy of the court file for the designated judge and forward it to the judge. Within ten (10) business days of adjudication of the case, the original documents of the adjudication shall be forwarded to the clerk of the original magistrate court for filing. G. Unavailability of judge. At any time during the pendency of the proceedings if the assigned judge is unavailable, the assigned judge may designate another judge of the magistrate district to hear any matter that is not dispositive of the case or the parties may agree on another judge to hear any matter, including the merits of the case. The agreement is subject to the approval of the assigned judge and the judge agreed upon by the parties. If another judge is agreed upon to hear the merits of the case, the case shall be reassigned to that judge.