RULE 40. ASSIGNMENT OF CASES FOR TRIAL
Effective Date: 3/1/2011
(a) Continuous Session of District Court. The district court is in continuous session in each county. Criminal and civil cases must be scheduled for trial in accordance with a calendaring procedure maintained and operated under the direction and supervision of the presiding judge of the district.
(b) [Deleted]
(c) Trial Dates. All contested cases must be assigned trial dates by the trial judge under the direction and supervision of the presiding judge of the district.
(d) Trial Date Continuances. A party seeking a continuance must make a request to continue a trial within 14 days after receiving notice of trial from the court. The trial judge scheduled to hear the case must approve any request for continuance. If unavoidable circumstances are shown, the trial judge may waive the 14-day requirement.
(e) Untried Cases. On motion, or on its own, the court may dismiss, without prejudice, an action or proceeding that has been pending and filed in which there has been a lack of prosecution for more than one year.
Rule 40 was amended effective July 1, 1981; January 1, 1988; August 1, 2004; March 1, 2008; March 1, 2009; March 1, 2011.
Rule 40 has the same purpose as Fed.R.Civ.P. 40.
Rule 40 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
Rule 40 was amended, effective March 1, 2008, to eliminate the note of issue and certificate of readiness requirement. Decisions on placement of cases on the trial calendar are made at Rule 16 scheduling conferences or as otherwise scheduled by the court.
Subdivision (a) provides for continuous session of district court, rather than distinct "terms" of court. The presiding judge is to oversee the calendaring process.
Subdivision (d) was amended, effective March 1, 2011, to increase the time to request a continuance from 10 to 14 days after receiving notice of trial.
Subdivision (e) provides for dismissal of untried cases after one year of inactivity.
The rule was amended, effective January 1, 1988, to make the rule gender neutral.
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 29-30, 2010, page 13; January 29-30, 2009, page 33; April 24-25, 2008, pages 21-22; April 26-27, 2007, pages 14-15; September 18-19, 2003, pages 11-18; April 24-25, 2003, pages 26-30; November 7-8, 1991, page 5; October 25-26, 1990, page 16; January 23, 1986, pages 9-12; September 18-19, 1980, pages 13-14; May 29-30, 1980, pages 1-2, 6-11; March 27-28, 1980, pages 3-4; January 17-18, 1980, page 3; November 29-30, 1979, pages 9-10; Fed.R.Civ.P. 40.
CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.Civ.P. 16 (Pretrial Conferences; Scheduling; Management); N.D.R.Crim.P. 50 (Calendars).