ORDER DENYING SUBSTITUTION OF COUNSEL

(Docs. 194-197)

JENNIFER L. THURSTON, Magistrate Judge.

In this action, the plaintiffs challenge the supervisorial district boundaries under the Voting Rights Act. (Doc. 1) Though the plaintiffs named each member of the Kern County Board of Supervisors and other County officials in addition to the County of Kern, they named the individuals only in their official capacities. Id. The plaintiffs seek declaratory relief, injunctive relief and an order of the Court redrawing the districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Id.

The Court is engaged in the remedy portion of this action. Toward that end, it has ordered the parties to engage in settlement discussions and ordered the parties to appear for a settlement conference on March 28, 2018 (Doc. 193) On March 23, 2018, one of the members of the Board of Supervisors, David Couch, filed substitutions of counsel forms seeking to be represented separately from the attorneys who have defended the County throughout.1 (Docs. 194-197)

The substitutions of attorney forms fail to have the signatures of current counsel consenting to the substitution and do not sufficiently evidence consent by the entity. (Docs. 194-197) Thus, the requests for substitution of counsel are DENIED without prejudice. In the event that these requests are renewed, they SHALL be filed by way of noticed motion and the motion SHALL be set before the Honorable Dale A. Drozd.

IT IS SO ORDERED.