Local Civil Rule 40
                              ASSIGNMENT OF CASES


   (a) Notice of Trial - Note of Issue

   (1) Of Fact - Note for Trial Docket - Cases Not Subject to Civil Case
Schedule Order.

   (A) Any party desiring to bring any issue of fact to trial, except for cases
governed by LCR 4 and LCR 04.04W, shall file with the Clerk and Court
Administrator's Office and serve upon the other parties or their attorneys a
"Notice of Trial Setting and Certificate of Readiness," in the form maintained
by the Court Administrator's Office, which shall contain the title for the
court, a brief title of the case, the case number, the nature of the case,
whether jury or non-jury, whether there has been a 12-person jury demand,
whether a 6-person jury would be acceptable, estimated trial time, the name and
address and telephone number of each attorney assigned to the case, whether
there should be a pre-trial conference, preferential trial dates or times, and
anything further that would assist the Court in setting a trial date, and shall
be subscribed by the attorney filing the same.

   (B) An attorney noting a case for trial thereby certifies that the case is
at issue, that there has been a reasonable opportunity for discovery, that
discovery will be complete by the trial date, that necessary witnesses will be
available, and that to his/her knowledge, no other parties will be served with
a summons and no further pleadings will be filed prior to trial.

   (C) The attorney noting the case for trial shall confer with all other
counsel prior to noting the case for trial setting to determine if there is any
objection to setting.  If there is no objection, the attorney shall so certify
on the notice of setting.  If there is objection and the setting attorney
believes the objections to readiness are not justified, the attorney shall so
indicate on the setting notice and the matter shall be heard by the Presiding
Judge on the motion calendar.

   (D) In the event all parties agree the case is ready for trial or will be
ready for trial by a specific date, but have objections to particular dates,
they shall notify the Court Administrator's Office of unavailable dates within
five (5) days after receiving the notice of trial setting.

       (b) Methods.

   (1) Court Administrator to Assign Dates.  The Court Administrator shall
assign trial dates under the supervision of the Presiding Judge who shall be in
direct charge of the trial calendar.  To the extent practical, cases shall be
set chronologically according to noting date, except for cases having statutory
preference.

   (2) Jury and Non-jury Trials.  Upon the serving and filing of a "Notice of
Trial Setting and Certificate of Readiness," the Court Administrator shall
forthwith assign a specific trial date and notify the Clerk and counsel of the
date assigned.

   (3) Advancing Trial Dates.  Any case assigned a specific date may, at the
discretion of the Presiding Judge, be advanced to an earlier date or may be
reset if the court calendar permits.  Notice shall be given at least five (5)
days prior to the new trial date assigned.

   (4) One Day Trailing.  Except for good cause shown, all non-domestic civil
cases shall trail for one day.  That is, trials of cases in Benton County will
be called on Mondays, but the parties must be prepared to begin trial on the
next day (Tuesday).  Similarly, trials of cases in Franklin County will be
called on Wednesdays, but the parties must be prepared to begin trial on the
next day (Thursday).

   (5) Notice of Settlement.  Notice of the settlement of a case set for trial
shall be immediately given to the Court Administrator or, if unable to contact
the Court Administrator, to the Clerk.  Any circumstance preventing any case
from going to trial as scheduled, immediately upon becoming known to counsel,
shall be communicated to the Court Administrator.  Failure to comply with this
rule may result in the assessment of terms including the expense of a jury panel.

   (c) Stipulated Continuances.  No trial setting shall be continued by
stipulation of counsel without good cause and without approval of the Civil
Presiding Judge or Court Administrator within twenty (20) days of the date set
for trial.  More than twenty (20) days before trial, stipulations for
continuance will normally be honored unless the Court concludes a continuance
is unwarranted.  All stipulations to continue must be supported by an affidavit
setting forth the reasons for the continuance and submitted to the Court
Administrator's office for review by the Civil Presiding Judge.

   (d) Change of Judge.

   (1)  Affidavit - Judge.

        (A) Under RCW 4.12.050, the motion and the affidavit must be filed with the
clerk, and a copy delivered to Court Administration and to all other parties.  If the
party has not filed another motion and affidavit, and the motion and affidavit
meet the requirements of RCW 4.12.050, the designated judge shall recuse
himself or herself, without further order.

        (B) Requests for Recusal.  A party requesting the recusal of a judge
may do so by motion and affidavit filed with the Clerk and a copy delivered to
Court Administration and to all other parties.  The matter shall be heard on
the record by the judge against whom the request is made.

   (2) Affidavit - Court Commissioner.  Affidavits of prejudice or for change of
Court Commissioner will not be recognized.  The remedy of a party is for a motion for
revision under RCW 2.24.050.

   (e) Assignment of Judge.  Judges will be pre-assigned to cases only by court
order, for good cause, and will be assigned in order from the list maintained
by Court Administration.

   (f) Writ of Habeas Corpus Relating to Custody of Minor Children.
Applications for Writs of Habeas Corpus relating to custody of minor children
shall be presented to and returnable to the presiding judge of the Superior
Court for Benton and Franklin Counties on court days between the hours of 8:30 a.m.
to noon and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.


[Adopted Effective April 1, 1986; Amended Effective September1, 1998; September
1, 2000; September 1, 2002, September 1, 2003, September 1, 2004, September 1,
2008, September 1, 2010, September 1, 2011, September 1, 2012]