Group III: Pleadings and Motions · Last amended October 6, 2025 · Last verified July 14, 2026
(a) Change of Venue. — The district court may order a change of venue of a civil action by its own motion or upon motion of the parties.
(1) Motion of the Parties. —
(A) A motion to change venue must be made within 30 days of service of the complaint on the last party to be served.
(B) Upon filing a motion to change venue, an opposing party may file a response to the motion no later than 20 days after the motion is filed.
(C) If the court determines the action was filed in an improper venue, the court shall order a change of venue to a district court where venue is proper.
(2) Motion of the Court. —
(A) The presiding court may, upon the court’s own motion, order a change of venue to a district court where venue is proper if the court determines the action was filed in an improper venue.
(B) Prior to ordering a change of venue, the court shall provide notice to the parties.
(C) Any objection to the proposed change of venue must be filed within 20 days of receiving notice.
(D) If an objection is timely filed, the court will resolve the matter with or without a hearing.
(3) When a change of venue is ordered, the court shall serve the order on all parties and provide a copy to the receiving court.
(A) The court shall order the plaintiff(s) to pay the filing fees required to refile the case in the proper court within 20 days of issuance of the order.
(B) If plaintiff(s) fails to timely pay the filing fee as ordered, the court shall dismiss the case without prejudice.
(b) Transfer of the Record. —
(1) The plaintiff shall file a Notice of Change of Venue with the court where the action is to be transferred, along with the requisite filing fee.
(2) No action shall be taken to transfer the record until the filing fee has been paid by the plaintiff(s) to the clerk of district court where the action is to be transferred.
(3) Upon receiving the filing fee, the clerk of district court where the action is to be transferred shall promptly notify the clerk of district court where the action originated of the payment. Upon notice, the clerk of district court where the action originated shall prepare and transmit the record to the clerk of district court where the action has been transferred.
(4) If a jury fee has been paid prior to the time the order changing venue is issued, the clerk of the district court where the action originated shall forward the jury fee to the clerk of the court where the action has been transferred at the same time the record is transmitted.
(5) Upon receiving the record, the clerk of district court shall notify the judge that the record has been appropriately transferred.
Added August 5, 2025, effective October 6, 2025.
A party who wants to move a case has 30 days from service of the complaint on the last party served to file a motion to change venue; the opposing side then has 20 days to respond. If the court agrees the case was filed in the wrong district, it orders the case moved to a proper one. The court can also raise the issue on its own, but only after giving the parties notice and 20 days to object, and it resolves any timely objection with or without a hearing.
Once venue changes, the mechanics fall to the plaintiff and the two clerks of court. The plaintiff must file a notice of change of venue and pay the filing fee in the receiving court within 20 days of the order, and the case is dismissed without prejudice if that fee never comes. Once the fee is paid, the receiving clerk notifies the originating clerk, who transmits the record — and any jury fee already paid — to the new court.