N.C. R. Prac. Sup. & Dist. Ct. Civ. P. 2
The policies and procedures outlined in the DCCM Plan shall be implemented by the Chief District Judge in collaboration from the offices of the District Attorney, the Clerk of Court, and the Trial Court Administrator. The Chief District Judge Shall monitor implementation and effectiveness of the DCCM with the assistance of the Trial Court Administrator (TCA). Implementation issues and performance outcomes will be addressed at regularly scheduled case management meetings chaired by the Chief District Judge.
All judges and court staff are responsible for compliance with the DCCM Plan and the effective management of the cases assigned to them, adherence to time standards and compliance with local rules for Criminal District Court.
Roles and Responsibilities
Chief District Judge
The Chief District Judge shall prepare and publish a schedule of Criminal District Court sessions for the calendaring of court events consistent with the DCCM Plan. The Chief District Judge shall assign district judges to the criminal division who are engaged and committed to the administration of the DCCM Plan and shall provide orientation, resources and training on the DCCM Plan to all district judges assigned to the criminal division of district court.
Trial Court Administrator
The TCA will assign matters to case tracks in accordance with the DCCM Plan and assist the District Attorney's Office in scheduling court events that are required to occur after the initial appearance.
The TCA will ensure Pretrial Readiness and Case Management calendars are updated and made available on eCourts Portal: https://portal-nc.tylertech.doud/Portal/.
The TCA will assist assigned trial judges with the management of cases assigned to them after initial appearance.
Under the supervision of the Chief District Judge, the TCA will prepare regular reports which measure case processing performance and the use of court resources.
District Attorney
Pursuant to N.C.G.S. 7A-61, "The district attorney shall prepare the trial dockets, prosecute in a timely manner in the name of the State all criminal actions and infractions requiring prosecution in the...district court."
It is the policy of the District Attorney that his office will work in collaboration with the Chief District Judge, TCA and Clerk of Superior Court in the scheduling of court events.
The District Attorney is responsible for issuing subpoenas to state's witnesses.
Clerk of Superior Court-Criminal Division
Under the supervision of the Clerk of Superior Court (CSC), the CSC-Criminal Division maintains all case information, creates the dockets of the court and serves as the official custodian of the record for court proceedings. The CSC-Criminal Division issues all notices, and orders in the name of the court for all case hearings and trials.
The contributions of the CSC-Criminal Division are critical to the success of the DCCM Plan.
Assignment and Docketing
District Judges are individually assigned cases from the first appearance. The District Attorney assigns cases to trial and pretrial readiness conference calendars for individual district judges.
All criminal complaints are individually assigned to a district court judge, according to a plan developed by the District Attorney and the Chief District Court Judge. Officer-assigned court dates are used to schedule trial settings for which a law enforcement officer has been identified by the state as a necessary witness. Cases which do not have law enforcement officer witnesses are randomly assigned to individual district judges in a manner that balances the workload among the judges.
The judge to whom any district criminal action is assigned shall retain the matter, except as provided in the DCCM Plan, and no person may change any assignment except by order of the judge assigned with the consent of the judge receiving the reassignment or by order of the Chief District Judge.
When practical, all actions involving substantially the same parties, or substantially the same subject matter, or substantially the same factual issues, whether pending simultaneously or not, shall be assigned to the same judge.
The Chief District Court Judge shall publish an annual calendar of sessions for the district criminal court at least 90 days prior to the start of each year. . The sessions will be configured in Odyssey Case Manager by the Chief District Court Judge or her designee(s). A weekly calendar of sessions for the district criminal court will be published each Thursday for the following week.
The District Attorney has calendaring authority and matters will be scheduled according to the DCCM plan.
Dockets will be created by the Clerk of Superior Court and published according to the Rules of Record Keeping on eCourts Portal: https://portal-nc.tylertech.doud/Portal/.
Administrative schedules will be maintained by the TCA and published to eCourts Portal: https://portal-nc.tylertech.doud/Portal/.
Each judge, in consultation with the Assistant District Attorney assigned to a case and the assistance of a court coordinator assigned by the TCA, is responsible for the resetting of cases on a calendar for sessions to which the judge is assigned, and on a timely basis in the integrated case management system. The Trial Court Administrator and the District Attorney are responsible for resetting matters that must be rescheduled due to the cancellation of a court session by the Chief District Judge. The Clerk of Superior Court will enter the reset dates into the integrated case management system and re-docket the cases.
Consistent with Rule 3 of the General Rules of Practice for the Superior and District Courts, requests for a continuance or to reschedule a matter that has been scheduled for hearing, must be made by motion to the presiding judge of the court in which the case is calendared or to the Chief District Judge if the presiding judge is unknown or unavailable. Final rulings on continuance motions and requests to reschedule a matter shall be the within the sole discretion of the assigned judge.
Original and reopened cases that are open during the same period of time for the same defendant shall be consolidated by the court coordinator and assigned, whenever possible, to the same judge that was assigned to the original case against the defendant. Consolidation of cases will remove the consolidated case from the presumptive assignment process.
Reasons for assignment to a different judge shall include, but are not limited to, the following: recusal due to conflict of interest, retirement or other permanent absence of the original judge.
Any post-adjudication motions and actions, including probation violations, shall be considered reopened cases. Reopened cases shall be assigned, whenever possible, to the judge assigned to the case for trial, who issued the verdict in the case.
Reports
Under the direction of the Chief District Judge and the Trial Court Administrator and/or designees will provide regular case management reports detailed below. All reports will be presented by selected time period as required. Reports shall be shared with the DA Misdemeanor Unit Chief, PD Misdemeanor Unit Chief, Defense Bar Representative, Presiding Judges, and Chief District Judge.
Cases
Events
N.c. R. Prac. Sup. & Dist. Ct. Civ. P. 2