Requirements & Information

Requirements and Information

March 13, 2023

Thomas W. Krug, Circuit Judge

All motions must be filed prior to reserving hearing time.
All hearings 60 minutes in length or less must be scheduled using the JACS.
All hearings longer than 60 minutes must be scheduled through the Judicial Assistant.
All hearings must be scheduled on a day assigned to the case’s Assistant State Attorney unless an alternate date is either agreed to by the Assistant State Attorney or set by the court.
Attorneys must submit courtesy copies of the motion(s), notices of hearing, and case law to the court at least one week before the scheduled hearing.
Requests for emergency hearing time must be made through the Judicial Assistant.
The court has designated certain times on the calendar as “Special Set Hearings.” Requests to schedule motions at these times must be made through the Judicial Assistant.

Case Management hearings are held every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. Attorneys and defendants are expected to be present at that time.
The State and Defense shall comply with Circuit Criminal Administrative Order 2009-1 which outlines the procedures for Case Management hearings, including the timely conveyance by the State of a sentence recommendation to the defense.
If the parties stipulate to a trial date, they must use the approved Stipulation for Trial Date located in the courtroom and on this website. The form must be completely filled out and contain the defendant’s signature. If the parties cannot agree on a trial date, the court will select one.
The presence of defendants at Case Management is mandatory, unless excused by the court.
Stipulations for trial may be filled out and submitted to the court in advance of Case Management. it is the obligation of the attorneys to confirm, either by checking Benchmark or by contacting the Judicial Assistant, that the stipulation has been approved. If the stipulation has been approved prior to Case Management, neither the attorneys nor the defendant need to appear. In most cases, the court expects that cases will be set for trial on one of the next two trial dockets.
At the Case Management hearing, defendants may enter pleas. Because the clerk must prepare certain documents for pleas, defense counsel should place the case name on the “plea list” to assist in expediting the process.

Docket Sounding is held two weeks before the trial period. Defendants’ presence at Docket Sounding is mandatory unless excused by the court. Docket Sounding for defendants in jail and represented by the Public Defender's Office or Office of Regional Counsel will take place at 9 a.m. in the jail on the Thursday following regular Docket Sounding.
Defendants may enter pleas at the conclusion of Docket Sounding.
The status of each case on the trial docket will be discussed including anticipated length of trial.
Oral motions to continue are not permitted at any time including Docket Sounding.
At the conclusion of Docket Sounding and all pleas, the court may address (time permitting) motions to continue that have been filed in the court file at least three days prior to Docket Sounding.

Counsel are encouraged to discuss and to agree on pleas that may be entered by a defendant. However, ultimate responsibility for sentence determination rests with the trial judge.
Negotiated pleas, subject to the court's approval, in cases on the next trial docket, will be scheduled at 1 p.m. on the Friday following Docket Sounding. After that day and time, all pleas in cases on the next trial docket must be open pleas, unless the charge(s) are amended in some manner.

Trial scheduling for all cases remaining on the trial docket will take place at 9:00 a.m. on the Wednesday immediately preceding the first Monday of the trial period.
Defendants are not required to attend trial scheduling.
The purpose of trial scheduling is to set the trial order. Attorneys are encouraged (but not required) to attend. The court will consider special scheduling requests. If attorneys do not appear, the court will assume that the trial can be set at any time during the two-week trial period.
Pleas will not be taken at trial scheduling. All pleas after Docket Sounding must be scheduled or entered when the case is called up for trial.
All cases not set for a date and time certain at trial scheduling will appear on the final trial docket. This final trial docket will be distributed by email.

The jury trial period is a two-week trial period. Three judges are generally available for trial during this period.
At 9 a.m. on the first Monday of the trial period, the cases will be called up for trial in front of each judge in the order outlined in the final trial docket created following trial scheduling.
So as not to keep jurors waiting, pleas will not be taken Monday morning unless the case is called up for trial. Exceptions may be made under certain circumstances, such as the jury panel not being ready. If proceedings are complete for the day in the trial case before 4 p.m. on Monday, requests may be made to enter pleas after 4 p.m.
Unless a trial is given a specific date and time for commencement, all cases must be ready for trial on the first Monday of the trial period.
Proposed jury instructions shall be presented to the court on the first day of trial.