NEWS FROM U.S. DISTRICT COURT
November 14, 2025

Jury Instructions. Following the completion of every jury trial, final instructions are posted on the Court’s website. There are now over 600 sets of searchable jury instructions dating back to 2007. To find a specific case, enter any known details (partial terms are acceptable) such as Title, Case Number, Judge, etc. into the filters, then select ‘Apply’. Leave fields blank or select ‘Reset’ to view all items.

Proposed Rule Changes. Our judges are proposing changes to the Civil and Criminal Local Rules. The changes have been reviewed by the Federal Practice Committee and are now available for public notice and comment. The changes include new civil and criminal rules on artificial intelligence (Civ. LR 7.2 and Crim. LR 12.2) as well as modifications to Civ. LR 83.2 and Crim. LR 44.1 on the provisional admission of attorneys for the United States and Federal Public Defender. If you have comments or suggestions, please email Matt_Thelen@sdd.uscourts.gov by December 19, 2025.

CJA Payments. Now that the Government Shutdown has ended, the eVoucher program has begun processing payments that were held in a queue. It is expected to take approximately 1-week to process the payments (in the order of approval).

U.S. Magistrate Judge Vacancy. The deadline to apply for the Western Division U.S. Magistrate Vacancy is Wednesday, November 26th. More information is available on the Court’s website.

Closure Reminder. The court will be closed on Thursday, November 27th for Thanksgiving and Friday, November 28th for a local holiday. The court will also be closed on Thursday, December 25th for Christmas and Friday, December 26th for a local holiday.