New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 22 - JUDICIARY › Subtitle A - JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION › Chapter II - UNIFORM RULES FOR THE NEW YORK STATE TRIAL COURTS › Part 205 - Uniform Rules For The Family Court › Section 205.3 - Individual assignment system; structure

Current through Register
				  Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) General. There shall be established
				  for all proceedings heard in the Family Court an individual assignment system
				  which provides for the continuous supervision of each proceeding by a single
				  judge or, where appropriate, a single support magistrate. For the purposes of
				  this Part, the word judge shall include a support magistrate, where
				  appropriate. Except as otherwise may be authorized by the Chief Administrator
				  or by these rules, every proceeding shall be assigned and heard pursuant to the
				  individual assignment system.
(b) Assignments. Proceedings shall be
				  assigned to a judge of the court upon the filing with the court of the first
				  document in the case. Assignments shall be made by the clerk of the court
				  pursuant to a method of random selection authorized by the Chief Administrator.
				  The judge thereby assigned shall be known as the "assigned judge" with respect
				  to that matter and, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c) of this
				  section or by law, shall conduct all further proceedings therein.
(c) Exceptions.
(1) Where the requirements of
				  matters already assigned to a judge are such as to limit the ability of the
				  judge to handle additional cases, the Chief Administrator may authorize that
				  new assignments to the judge be suspended until the judge is able to handle
				  additional cases.
(2)
				  The Chief Administrator may authorize the establishment in any court of special
				  categories of proceedings for assignment to judges specially assigned to hear
				  such proceedings. Where more than one judge is specially assigned to hear a
				  particular category of proceeding, the assignment of such proceedings to the
				  judges so assigned shall be at random.
(3) Matters requiring immediate
				  disposition may be assigned to a judge designated to hear such matters when the
				  assigned judge is not available.
(4) The Chief Administrator may authorize
				  the transfer of any proceeding and any matter relating to a proceeding from one
				  judge to another in accordance with the needs of the court.
(5) Assignment of cases to
				  judges pursuant to this section shall be consistent with section
				  205.27 of this Part.
(6) Multiple proceedings
				  involving members of the same family shall be assigned to be heard by a single
				  judge to the extent feasible and appropriate, including, but not limited to,
				  child protective, foster care placement, family offense and custody
				  proceedings.
(7) Where
				  a child is under the jurisdiction of the Family Court as a result of a
				  placement in foster care pursuant to article 10 or 10A of the Family Court Act
				  or section
				  358-a of
				  the Social Services Law, a judicial surrender, or a petition for the
				  termination of parental rights, approval of an extra-judicial surrender or
				  adoption of the child, shall be assigned, wherever practicable, to the Family
				  Court judge who last presided over the child's proceeding.