Rule 702 - Assignments of Judges of the Court of Common Pleas(A) Assignment of judicial duties:(1) Judicial assignments shall become effective each year on January 2, or at such time preceding that date as is necessary to ensure a smooth transition of judicial duties.(2) The President Judge or the President Judge's designee shall assign judicial duties annually prior to July 1 of the year preceding the year that judicial assignments shall become effective.(3) Judicial assignments shall be made with due regard for the following: (a) The need for proper allocation of judicial resources to cover all necessary judicial duties;(b) The experience of a judge with a particular judicial assignment. A judge shall serve a minimum of two (2) years in a particular judicial assignment;(c) Due deference to a judge's seniority;(d) The desirability of having periodic changes of judicial assignments;(e) The desirability of maintaining continuity of judicial experience within various areas of judicial duties; and(f) The desires of individual judges.(B) Procedure for periodic rotation of judicial assignments: (1) Prior to July 1 of the year preceding the year that judicial assignments become effective, rotation of various judicial duties and assignments among the judges shall take place as follows: (a) Each judge shall have the ability to designate whether he or she wishes to keep that judge's current assignments or switch assignments to another judicial position.(b) The designation shall be made first by the most senior judge, and then by each judge in succession, according to seniority.(c) In the event there is more than one judicial position with substantially similar judicial assignments, positions with judges occupying a judicial position the longest shall be filled first, and thereafter, in inverse order of seniority.(2) Should a judge elect to stay in his or her current assignment area, that judge will be subject to being displaced from those assignments by a judge making a subsequent designation of assignments.(a) Once a judge has made a designation of assignments different than those currently held by that judge, that judge is not subject to being displaced from those assignments so designated.(b) A judge who has been displaced from his or her assignments by a judge making a subsequent designation of assignments shall take over the assignments of the judge who displaced him or her, and shall be subject to further displacement by a judge making a subsequent designation of assignments.(3) A judge may not designate a judicial assignment substantially similar to an assignment which that judge previously held unless no other judge has designated that judicial assignment.(4) No more than 50% of the judges in the following assignments shall be displaced in any one year: criminal court; juvenile dependencies; juvenile delinquencies; and child support.(5) Regardless of the assignments noted above, a judge who has been assigned to a complex matter, including PCRA matters, appeals of complex civil matters, and complex juvenile matters, shall retain assignment to that matter until the conclusion of all proceedings associated with that matter(C) The above scheme for rotation of assignments is subject to modification or change by the President Judge or the President Judge's designee to provide appropriate judicial resources for judicial assignments, to fill vacancies in the event of the disability of a judge to perform judicial functions, or for other necessary reasons.Amended effective through 4/1/2024.