When first filed, felony criminal cases in the District Court of Ford County are handled by 1 of 5 Magistrate Judges. Once they pass the preliminary hearing stage, they are assigned to 1 of 3 District Judges. This case assignment is done by a mathematical formula so that each District Judge is assigned roughly the same number of cases.

Case Numbers

A typical case number (like for example 2007-CR-1234) contains a YEAR followed by a 2-letter designator that shows the type of case, such as:

• CR for criminal
• TR for traffic
• JV for juvenile offender
• JC for child in need of care
• CT for a mentally ill person's care and treatment case

Right after the 2-letter designator is just a sequence number that is assigned in order as each case is filed, starting with 1 and going up as far as is needed.

Type that sequence number into the box and then click on OK. You will then see the name of the District Judge who will be assigned that case (if necessary) after the Magistrate Judge finishes with it.