Prisoner arraignments will be held every Monday in Woodford County all year, except on court holidays as set by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Prisoner arraignments will be held every Wednesday in Bourbon County all year, except on court holidays as set by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Prisoner arraignments will be held every Tuesday & Thursday in Scott County all year, except on court holidays as set by the Administrative Office of the Courts. If a judge is ill or absent, he or she shall request the judge of the other division or a special judge to arraign all prisoners for the county. All arraignments for prisoners arrested since the last court date and still incarcerated shall be handled through in person or video arraignment from the respective jails. Alterations made to video arraignments may be made due to malfunction, illness, absence, or for the convenience of the court at the joint discretion of the judges.

Pretrial conferences will be assigned and handled as informal conferences if requested by the parties and at the discretion of the Court. If a jury trial is requested, a final pretrial conference will be set up a few weeks prior to the scheduled jury trial, and all motions shall be filed with the respective court no later than seven days prior to the final pretrial conference. At the time of the final pretrial conference, the Prosecutor shall file proposed jury instructions with the court.

When the defendant's case is scheduled for trial, reasonable efforts shall be made to prevent unnecessary delay of the trial and inconvenience to the jury. Attorneys and defendants are to use their best efforts towards settlement and should exhaust all efforts toward settlement no later than the date of the final pretrial conference.

Motions on criminal or traffic matters will ordinarily be heard in the afternoons after scheduled preliminary hearings, or at other times amenable to the parties and the Court. Motions must be prepared and filed with the Clerk and set to be heard at the respective Court's next traffic or criminal docket, whereby a hearing can then be requested, and witnesses subpoenaed in time for said hearing. Copies of all motions shall be served on both the opposing party and the Court's Administrative Assistant. Oral motions may be made on the record in open court, but in the discretion of the Court may be set to be heard at a date and time convenient to the Court and all parties.

Jury trials will be scheduled on any Friday subject to the discretion of the Court and at the convenience of the parties, other than on holidays as designated by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The jury will be seated promptly at 9:00 a.m. unless otherwise notified by the Court. Attorneys for both parties are expected to be in court prepared for any pretrial motions by 8:30 a.m. The jury instructions approved by the Judge at the final pre-trial conference shall be presented to the Court at this time so that the case can proceed without undue delay.

Bench trials shall be set on written waiver of the Defendant, consent of the Commonwealth, and approval of the Court.

All exhibits not required to be maintained or disposed of by statute filed with the clerk shall be withdrawn by the party so filing within thirty (30) days after the appeal time in the case has expired, and upon the party's failure to do so, the Clerk is directed to destroy the same according to the retention schedule.

Indigent Defendants: All defendants charged with violation of the penal statutes who are found by the Court to be indigent shall be represented by the Kentucky Department for Public Advocacy. The Court shall appoint that organization to conduct the defense of the case, subject only to recoupment orders based on ability to pay if appropriate in the discretion of the Court.

Appointed Counsel. Except on a showing of extraordinary circumstances, counsel appointed by the Court will not be removed or permitted to withdraw on grounds of personality conflict or refusal of the defendant to cooperate with counsel. Appointed counsel may be allowed to withdraw if ability to pay for retained counsel is shown during representation, but before the day of trial. Withdrawal will not be allowed on the day of trial based on a defendant's newly acquired ability to pay for retained counsel.

Retained Counsel. Except for good cause shown, retained counsel who has appeared for the defendant at any proceeding will not be permitted to withdraw prior to entry of final judgment without the filing of a written motion, served on the defendant, setting forth grounds for the motion. “Retained counsel” means any attorney authorized to practice before this Court who has not been appointed by the Court to represent the defendant.

Attorney appearances shall be made with a client for arraignment on felonies. No attorney may appear on behalf of his client for pretrial conferencing, preliminary hearing, or trial and excuse the presence of the Defendant, without leave of the Court. Only the Court may excuse the presence of the Defendant for good cause shown. Motions made by attorney for the Defendant do not require the Defendant to be present unless requested by either party and notice given to defense counsel.

All motions for discovery made pursuant to RCr 7.24 shall be made at least thirty (30) days prior to the trial date. All motions for discovery must be in writing and accompanied with a prepared order.

Search warrants shall be sworn and submitted to the judge on call. Copies of all search warrants and supporting affidavits shall be filed in the Clerk's office pursuant to RCr 13.10. Please note: in light of the newly formed Search Warrant Task Force, this rule will be supplemented upon determinations made by said task force.

In the interest of judicial efficiency and economy the following are excepted as local rules of practice concerning Traffic Court/Misdemeanor Court and attorneys, Clerks, officers and defendants may rely on these rules to govern their advice and actions.