(A) Authority. Courts may regulate local court and administrative district practice by adopting and amending in accordance with this Rule local and administrative district rules not inconsistent with-and not duplicative of-these Rules of Trial Procedure or other Rules of the Indiana Supreme Court. Courts are strongly encouraged to adopt a single set of local rules for use in all courts of record in a county and will be required to do so after January 1, 2007. The single set may reflect different practices due to geographic, jurisdictional and other variables. Courts shall not use standing orders (that is, generic orders not entered in the individual case) to regulate local court or administrative district practice. Local and administrative district rules requiring approval of the Indiana Supreme Court or the Division of State Court Administration are subject to the provisions of this rule. (B) Notice and comment.(1) When a court or administrative district proposes to adopt or amend local or administrative district rules, it shall give notice to the bar and public of the content of the proposal, the time period for the bar and public to comment, the address to which comments should be sent, and the proposed effective date. Notice shall include, but not be limited to, transmitting the proposal to the officers of any local county bar association. (2) The court shall also transmit the proposal to the county clerk and to the Division of State Court Administration in digital format. The county clerk shall post the proposal in the county clerk’s office(s) and on the county clerk’s website, if any, and the Division of State Court Administration shall post the proposal on the Indiana Judicial Website for public inspection and comment. The court and the Division of State Court Administration shall receive comments for not less than thirty (30) days. (C) Schedule. The Division of State Court Administration shall establish and publish a uniform annual schedule, similar to the schedule for proposed Supreme Court rules under Rule 80(D), for publishing proposed local and administrative district rules, receiving comment, adopting rules, and the effective date of adopted rules. (D) Exceptions to the schedule. If a court finds that there is good cause to deviate from the schedule established by the Division of State Court Administration, the court or administrative district may adopt or amend local or administrative district rules at other times. However, a local or administrative district rule shall not take effect unless it has first been posted for thirty (30) days in the county clerk’s office(s) and on the county clerk’s website, if any, and on the Indiana Judicial Website. The court promptly thereafter shall provide opportunity to comment in the manner provided in subsection (B)(1) above.(E) Style, format, and numbering. The Division of State Court Administration shall establish and publish a standard format for drafting and amending local and administrative district rules. The format shall include a uniform numbering system which, to the extent practicable, corresponds to the numbering of these Rules of Trial Procedure and other Rules of the Indiana Supreme Court. (F) Adopted Rules. The court shall cause adopted rules and amendments to be placed in the Record of Judgments and Orders, shall cause the county clerk to post them in the county clerk’s office(s) and on the county clerk’s website, if any, for public inspection, and shall transmit a copy of the rules in digital format to the Division of State Court Administration for posting on the Indiana Judicial Website. (G) Availability of local and administrative district rules. All local and administrative district rules, as amended and with any appendices thereto, shall be compiled into one document, which shall be posted and available in the clerk’s office at all times for public inspection and on the county clerk’s website, if any. They shall be available free of charge on the Indiana Judicial Website. (H) Suspension of local or administrative district rules. In an individual case the court, upon its own motion or the motion of any party, may waive, suspend or modify compliance with any local or administrative district rule if the interests of justice so require. All such waivers, suspensions or modifications shall be entered in the Chronological Case Summary of the case. (I) Transition. To continue in effect local and administrative district rules promulgated before the effective date of this Rule, the court shall (1) renumber such rules according to the uniform numbering system established by the Division of State Court Administration under subsection (E) above, (2) cause such rules to be posted and available in the clerk’s office as required by subsection (G) above, and (3) transmit a copy of such rules in digital format to the Division of State Court Administration for posting on the Indiana Judicial Website. By January 1, 2007, local rules must be in compliance with the terms of this Rule. (J) Periodic review and update. Courts and administrative districts should review periodically and change local and administrative district rules as required by changes in statutes, case law, or these Rules of Trial Procedure or other Rules of the Indiana Supreme Court.
