Ind. Sup. Ct. Order Approving Local Rules: order-local-rules-2025-25S-MS-324

In the

Indiana Supreme Court

In the Matter of the Approval of Local

Rules for Wayne County

Supreme Court Case No.

25S-MS-324

Order Approving Amended Local Rules

The Judges of the Wayne Circuit and Superior Courts request the approval of amended

local rules for caseload allocation in accordance with Administrative Rule 1(E). Attached to this

Order are the proposed amended local rules.

Upon examination of the proposed rule amendments requested by the Wayne Circuit and

Superior Courts, this Court finds that the proposed amendments to LR89-AR1-013 and LR89-

AR1-014 comply with the requirements of Administrative Rule 1(E), and, accordingly, should

be approved.

IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED by this Court that amended Local Rules, LR89-AR1-

013 and LR89-AR1-014, for the Wayne Circuit and Superior Courts, set forth as attachments to

this Order, are approved effective January 1, 2026.

Done at Indianapolis, Indiana, on ___________ .

Loretta H. Rush

Chief Justice of Indiana

11/26/2025

LR89-AR1-013 FILING PROCEDURE FOR CRIMINAL CASES

This rule shall govern the filing of criminal cases in Wayne County:

A. Misdemeanors are filed in Wayne Superior Court 3 unless the misdemeanor

accompanies a felony charge filed in Wayne Circuit Court, Wayne Superior

Court 1, or Wayne Superior Court 2.

B. The following felonies shall be filed in Wayne Superior Court 3, unless at least

one Level 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 Felony (other than those listed in this paragraph)

or murder, is also filed against the same defendant in the same Information or

Indictment:

1. Battery, a Level 6 Felony, filed under I.C. 35-42-2-1.

2. Domestic Battery, a Level 6 Felony, filed under I.C. 35-42-2-1.3.

3. Strangulation, a Level 6 Felony, filed under I.C. 35-42-2-9.

4. Possession of marijuana, hash oil, hashish, salvia, a synthetic

cannabinoid, or other substance listed at I.C. 35-48-4-11, a Level 6

Felony.

5. All offenses filed under I.C. 9-30-5 or I.C. 9-30-6.

6. All offenses involving the operation of a motor vehicle while driving

privileges are suspended, restricted, or forfeited.

7. Resisting Law Enforcement, a Level 6 Felony pursuant to I.C. 35-44.1-

3-1(a)(3);(c)(1).

C. If the defendant:

1. has at least one pending criminal case, or

2. is on probation.

in Circuit Court, Superior Court 1 or Superior Court 2, then any felony

charges brought against the same defendant, other than those felony charges

listed in (B)(1-7), are to be filed in the Court having jurisdiction over the matter

referred to at (C)(1) or (C)(2).

D. Except as otherwise dictated by paragraph (A), (B), or (C), criminal cases shall

be filed in a random and equal manner in Circuit Court, Superior Court 1, and

Superior Court 2.

E. If the Judge or personnel of a Court are required as witnesses in any case, the

case shall not be filed in that Court, and the Clerk shall cause that case to be

randomly filed in a different Court, unless otherwise excepted by this rule.

F. When the State of Indiana chooses to refile a dismissed case, the case shall be

assigned to the Court from which the dismissal was taken. This rule applies

to all charges arising out of the same offense, arrest, or set of operative facts.

G. In order to provide for an appropriately balanced caseload and appropriate use

of court resources, the judges of the Wayne County Courts may, from time to

time, transfer cases to other Courts within Wayne County. Transfer of cases

shall be by written order of the forwarding Court and shall be subject to

written consent by the judge of the receiving Court.

H. If unusual and unforeseen circumstances occur, deviation from the provisions

of this rule may be obtained for a particular case with the approval of the

Courts.

I. The filing of any case in a manner contrary to the rules set out above shall not

be considered as grounds to support a motion for transfer or for a change of

venue from the Court or judge. The presiding judge may transfer such a case

at his or her discretion.

J. In the event that a criminal offense is added or significantly modified by

statute, including any alteration in the level of misdemeanor or felony, the

judges of the Wayne Circuit and Superior Courts will issue a temporary local

rule to address the proper filing of such offense. The temporary local rule will

have effect until the local rule can be formally amended.

LR89-AR1-014 RANDOM FILING OF CIVIL CASES

1. All small claims (SC) and eviction (EV) cases shall be filed in Wayne Superior Court No.

3.

2. All Child in Need of Services (JC) cases, Juvenile Delinquent (JD) cases, Termination of

Parental Rights (JT) cases, Juvenile Status (JS) cases, and all Protective Order (PO) causes

in which the Respondent is a juvenile shall be filed in Wayne Superior Court No. 3.

3. Agreed upon adoption (AD) cases arising out of a JC or JT case shall be filed in Wayne

Superior Court No. 3.

4. All mental health (MH) cases shall be filed in a random and equal manner in Wayne

Circuit Court, Wayne Superior Court No. 1, or Wayne Superior Court No. 2.

5. All Petitions seeking expungement or related relief under I.C.35-38-5-1 et seq., IC 31-39-

8-1 et seq. (juvenile expungement), or I.C. 35-38-9-1 et seq., and assigned an Expungement

(XP) case number, shall be filed as follows:

a. Relief sought from conviction/disposition/adjudication in only one (1) prior

case shall be filed in the court that originally entered judgment of conviction

and entered sentencing or otherwise adjudicated or disposed of the case; and,

b. Relief sought from conviction/disposition/adjudication in more than one (1)

prior case shall be filed in the court that entered the most recent judgment of

conviction and entered sentencing or otherwise adjudicated or disposed of the

case.

6. All other civil cases including, but not limited to: Civil Plenary (PL), Mortgage

Foreclosure (MF), Civil Collections (CC), Commercial Court Eligible (CE), Civil Tort

(CT), Domestic Relations (DC, DN), Reciprocal Support (RS), Seizure of Firearms (RF),

Adoptions (AD) not otherwise filed in Wayne Superior Court No. 3 pursuant to Paragraph

3 above, Grandparent Visitation (GV), Judicial Review of Administrative Agency

Decisions (RA), Probate Supervised (ES), Probate Unsupervised (EU), Estate

Miscellaneous (EM), Guardianships (GU), Trusts (TR), Protective Orders (PO) not

otherwise filed in Wayne Superior Court No. 3 pursuant to Paragraph 2 above, and Civil

Miscellaneous (MI), shall be filed in a random and equal manner in Wayne Circuit Court,

Wayne Superior Court No. 1, or Wayne Superior Court No. 2. All tax sale cases shall be

filed in the Wayne Superior Court No. 2.

7. The judges of the Wayne Circuit Court, Wayne Superior Court No. 1, and Wayne Superior

Court No. 2 shall periodically review the filing patterns of civil cases, and the Judges of

such courts reserve the right to transfer cases in the event of a disproportionate distribution

of cases in order to balance the caseload and expedite dispositions of all pending civil

cases.

8. In the event that a cause is filed in Wayne Circuit Court, Wayne Superior Court No. 1, or

Wayne Superior Court No. 2, and the Court in which said cause is filed discovers that

there is a related cause(s) (related party/parties and/or subject matter) in one of the other

two (2) such Courts and said Court determines that the cause should be transferred to the

Court with the pre-existing cause(s) for judicial efficiency or that the same would be

prudent based on subject matter, said Court may transfer the cause to the Court with the

pre-existing cause(s) subject to written consent of the judge of the receiving Court.