NEW MILEAGE RATES (Jan 8, 2010)

The General Services Administration has announced a decrease in the mileage rates for privately owned automobiles and motorcycles, and an increase in mileage rates for privately owned airplanes when used for official travel.

The rates are effective for travel performed on or after January 1, 2010, for all judiciary employees, jurors, CJA panel attorneys and interpreters.

• Automobiles     $0.50 per mile
• Motorcycles      $0.47 per mile
• Airplanes          $1.29 per mile

Click here for an Authorized Mileage Allowance Chart for privately owned automobiles traveling in the Western District of Arkansas.

INCREASE IN CJA COMPENSATION RATES (Jan 4, 2010)

Congress has raised the non-capital hourly CJA panel attorney compensation rate from $110.00 to $125.00 for services performed on or after January 1, 2010. The case compensation maximum rates were also increased for all CJA-compensable work performed on or after January 1, 2010.

Charts listing the new hourly rates and case compensation maximums are available at: Hourly Rates and Case Compensation Maximums.

AMENDMENTS TO THE LOCAL RULES (Dec 10, 2009)

Amendments to the Local Rules for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas became effective on December 1, 2009.  Most of the amendments involve time-computation changes, consistent with recent Amendments to the Federal Rules.  The amendments are available on the Court's web site under the link "Local Rules".

AMENDMENTS TO LOCAL AND FEDERAL RULES (Dec 1, 2009)

Amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rules of Criminal Procedure became effective on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.  Most of the rules amendments involve time-computation changes, which are intended to make the federal rules on calculating time periods simpler, clearer, and consistent.  The amended rules count intermediate weekends and holidays for all time periods.  All the deadlines in the rules were reviewed and most short periods were extended to offset the shift in the time-computation rules and to ensure that each period is reasonable.  In addition, deadlines of less than 30 days were changed to multiples of seven days, so that the expiration of the deadline ordinarily will occur on a weekday.  Generally, under the revised rules:

• 5-day deadlines become 7 days;
• 10- and 15-day deadlines become 14 days;
• 20-day deadlines become 21 days; and
• 25-day deadlines become 28 days.

Further information on the time-computation rules amendments and parallel changes to certain statutory time periods affecting court proceedings can be found in the excerpt reports of the Rules Committees, which are posted on the Rules web site at http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/supct0309.html and at http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/HR1626.pdf.  In addition, clean versions of the Rules Amendments are available on the Court's web site under the link "Federal Rules".