M.D. Pa. L.R. 67.1

(a) Investment of Funds by Clerk of Court. The Clerk of Court will invest funds under

Fed. R. Civ. P. 67 as soon as the business of his or her office allows.

(b) Deposit in Court Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 67.

(1) Receipt of Funds

A. No money shall be sent to the Court or its officers for deposit in the Court’s

registry without a court order signed by the presiding judge in the case or

proceeding.

B. The party making the deposit or transferring funds to the Court’s registry shall

serve the order permitting the deposit or transfer on the Clerk of Court, the Chief

Deputy and the Financial Administrator.

C. Unless provided for elsewhere in the Order, all monies ordered to be paid to the

Court or received by its officers in any case pending or adjudicated shall be

deposited with the Treasurer of the United States in the name and to the credit

of this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2041 through depositories by the Treasury

to accept such deposit on its behalf.

(2) Investment of Registry Funds

A. Where, by order of the Court, funds on deposit with the Court are to be placed

in some form of interest-bearing account, or invested in a court-approved,

interest-bearing instrument in accordance with Rule 67 of the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure, the Court Registry Investment System (“CRIS”), administered

by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts under 28 U.S.C. § 2045,

shall be the only investment mechanism authorized.

B. Money from each case deposited in the CRIS shall be “pooled” together with

those on deposit with Treasury to the credit of other courts in the CRIS and used

to purchase Government Account Series securities through the Bureau of Public

Debt, which will be held at Treasury, in an account in the name and to the credit

of the Director of Administrative Office of the United States Courts, hereby

designated as Custodian (“Custodian”) for CRIS. Funds held in the CRIS remain

subject to the control and jurisdiction of the Court.

C. An account for each case will be established in the CRIS titled in the name of the

case giving rise to the investment in the fund. Income generated from fund

investments will be distributed to each case based on the ratio each account’s

principal and earnings has to the aggregate principal and income total in the

fund. Reports showing the interest earned and the principal amounts contributed

in each case will be prepared and distributed to each court participating in the

CRIS and made available to litigants and/or their counsel upon request.

(3) Deduction of Fees

A. The Custodian is authorized to deduct the investment services fee for the

management of investments in the CRIS and the registry fee for maintaining

accounts deposited with the Court.

B. The investment services fee is assessed from interest earnings according to the

Court’s Miscellaneous Fee Schedule.

C. The registry fee is assessed by the Custodian from each case’s pro rata

distribution of the earnings and is to be determined on the basis of the rates

published by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts

as approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States.

(4) Withdrawal of a Deposit Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P 67. The Court’s order for

disbursement of invested registry funds must include the name and address of

the payee(s) in addition to the total amount of the principal and interest (if the

interest is not known, the order may read “plus interest”) which will be disbursed

to each payee. In order for the Clerk of Court to comply with the Internal

Revenue Code and the rules thereunder, payees receiving earned interest must

provide a W-9 Taxpayer Identification and Certification form to the office of the

Clerk of Court prior to disbursement from the invested account. The

disbursement order should be reviewed by the Clerk of Court or the Financial

Supervisor prior to being signed by the Judge in order to insure that the

necessary information is provided.

(c) Funds regularly deposited in the registry of the court such as bail, removal bonds and

civil garnishments are placed in the Treasury of the United States and accrue no interest.

CHAPTER XII

SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS

LR 71A.1 Condemnation Procedures.

LR 71A.1.1 Formal Filing Requirements.

In condemnation proceedings, all documents presented for filing shall contain in the

caption a reference to the tract number or numbers, in numerical order, to which the document

refers, and the name of the owner, owners, reputed owner, or reputed owners, as the case

may be. All correspondence from counsel to the court or the clerk shall bear a similar notation

immediately preceding the salutation.

LR 71A.1.2 Separate Files for Separate Tracts.

For each tract, economic unit or ownership for which the just compensation is required to

be separately determined in a total lump sum, there shall be a separate civil action file opened

by the clerk, which shall be given a serial number such as is given in all other civil actions. The

condemnor's counsel shall make the initial determination of each tract, economic unit or

ownership for which just compensation is required to be separately determined in a lump sum,

subject to review by the court after filing.

LR 71A.1.3 Master File.

The file in the civil action containing the first complaint filed under a single declaration of

taking shall be designated as the Master File for all the civil actions based upon the single

declaration of taking. The numerical designation as the Master File shall be shown by adding

as a suffix to the civil action serial number and the symbol MF______. (In the blank shall be

inserted a code number or numbers, selected by the condemnor, designating the project or

projects and the number assigned the declaration of taking with which the property concerned

is connected.) The single declaration of taking shall be filed in the Master File only. In all other

civil actions for condemnation of property which is the subject of the declaration of taking, an

appropriate reference to the Master File number in a standard form of complaint shall be

deemed to incorporate in the cause the declaration of taking by reference, and shall be a

sufficient filing of the declaration of taking referred to.

LR 71A.1.4 Separate Complaint in Master File.

For the civil action designated as the Master File there shall be a separate complaint. At

the option of the condemnor this complaint and exhibits shall (1) describe all owners, and other

parties affected and all properties that are the subject of the declaration of taking, or (2)

describe only the owner or owners of the first property or properties in the declaration of taking

for which the issue of just compensation is separately determinable.

LR 71A.1.5 Standard Form Complaint.

A standard form of complaint may be used for each civil action filed to condemn a tract,

economic unit or ownership for which the issue of just compensation is required to be

determined in a single lump sum. In the body of the complaint it shall not be necessary to

designate the owner or owners of the property concerned, other parties affected by the civil

action, or to describe the property concerned in the civil action. The names of the owners, and

other parties affected, and the description of the property concerned in the civil action, may be

set forth in an exhibit or exhibits incorporated by reference in the standard form of complaint

and filed with the complaint.

LR 71A.1.6 Combined Notice or Process.

In any notice or process required or permitted by law or by the Federal Rules of Civil

Procedure (including but not limited to process under Fed.R.Civ.P.71A(d)) the condemnor, at

its option, may combine in a single notice or process, notice or process in as many separate

civil actions as it may choose in the interests of economy and efficiency.

LR 71A.1.7 Effect of Filing in Master File.

The filing of a declaration of taking in the Master File constitutes a filing of the same in

each of the actions to which it relates.

CHAPTER XIII

MAGISTRATE JUDGES