Rule 76. Change of venue or judge in civil actions

(A) Change of venue from the county. (1) Basis for change. A party seeking a change of venue from the county must file a verified motion stating that the county where suit is pending is a party or that the party seeking the change will be unlikely to receive a fair trial due to local prejudice or bias regarding a party or the claim or defense presented by a party. The court must grant the motion if it finds the grounds have been established. A denial of the motion based on the inability to receive a fair trial is reviewable only for an abuse of discretion. (2) Procedure. Within ten days from granting the motion, the parties may agree on the county to which the case is venued, and the court must transfer the action to such county. In the absence of an agreement, the court must, within five days, issue an order listing three counties that are adjoining or in the same administrative district from which the parties must alternately strike. The movant strikes first within five days of the court’s order. The parties thereafter strike alternately within five days until one county remains, to which the case must be venued. If the party is brought into the action under Rule 14, and that party later files a motion for change of venue that is granted, that party and the plaintiff are the parties entitled to strike. If a party fails to timely strike, the clerk strikes for that party.

(B) Change of judge. A change of judge is granted upon the filing of an unverified application or motion without stating specific grounds. The new judge must be selected in accordance with Rule 79.

(C) Timing of motion. All motions under this rule must be filed not later than ten days after the issues are first closed on the merits, except for the following:

(1) in cases where no responsive pleading is required to close issues, in probate and receivership proceedings, and in remonstrances and similar matters, each party has thirty days from the date the case is filed and shown on the chronological case summary;

(2) if the trial court or a court on appeal orders a new trial, or if a case is remanded, the parties have ten days from the date the order of the trial court is entered or the date the order of the court on appeal is certified;

(3) following the grant of a motion under this rule, a motion may be made by a party still entitled to change of county or judge within ten days after the case has been transferred and assigned a new case number in the receiving court; or

(4) if the moving party first obtains knowledge of the grounds for change of county or judge after the time limitations, the party may file a motion verified personally by the party, specifically alleging when the grounds were first discovered, how the grounds were discovered, the facts showing the grounds for a change, and why the grounds could not have been discovered earlier by the exercise of due diligence. Any opposing party has the right to file a verified response within ten days. The trial court's ruling on the timeliness of the request may only be reviewed for abuse of discretion.

(D) Limitation on change from county or judge. A party is limited to one change of county and one change of judge in all civil cases, including cases where a petition to modify any final decree is filed.

(E) Infractions. The Rules of Criminal Procedure govern proceedings involving an infraction.

(F) Juvenile child in need of services and termination cases. This rule governs cases in which a child is alleged to be in need of services or is the subject of a petition to terminate the parent-child relationship.