Conducting Business; Clerk’s Authority

(a) When Court Is Open. Every district court is considered always open for filing any paper, issuing and returning process, making a motion, or entering an order. (b) Place for Trial and Other Proceedings. Every trial on the merits must be conducted in open court and, so far as convenient, in a regular courtroom, but a private trial may be had as provided by statute. Any other act or proceeding may be done or conducted by a judge in chambers, without the attendance of the clerk or other court official, or anywhere inside or outside the judicial district. But no hearing—other than one ex parte—may be conducted outside this state unless all the affected parties consent. (c) Clerk’s Office Hours; Clerk’s Orders. (1) Hours. Every clerk’s office and branch office must be open—with a clerk or deputy on duty—during business hours every day except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. (2) Orders. Subject to the court’s power to suspend, alter, or rescind the clerk’s action for good cause, the clerk may: (A) issue process; (B) enter a default; (C) enter a default judgment under Rule 55(b)(1); and (D) act on any other matter that does not require the court’s action. (d) Reserved. [Amended; effective March 1, 2019.]