Short answer. Yes. The clerk of court, under the judge's direct supervision, must give preference on the calendar of cases to habeas corpus cases, election cases, special civil actions, and any other cases the law specifically requires be prioritized ahead of the ordinary docket.
What the law says
The clerk of court, under the direct supervision of the judge, shall keep a calendar of cases for pre-trial, for trial, those whose trials were adjourned or postponed, and those with motions to set for hearing. Preference shall be given to habeas corpus cases, election cases, special civil actions, and those so required by law.
Rule 20, Section 1 — Calendar of cases. Read the full provision →
What the calendar of cases covers
The clerk of court, acting under the direct supervision of the judge, is tasked with keeping a comprehensive calendar of cases that covers several distinct categories: cases scheduled for pre-trial, cases scheduled for trial, those particular cases whose trials were adjourned or postponed for some reason, and those cases carrying motions that still need to be set for hearing. This overall calendar functions as the primary organizing tool for how the court's entire caseload moves through these various stages.
The preferred categories
Within that same calendar, certain specific categories of cases are not treated identically to everything else on the docket — preference shall instead be given to habeas corpus cases, election cases, special civil actions, and those cases so required by law to receive priority treatment. These particular categories jump ahead of the ordinary queue rather than simply being scheduled strictly according to filing order or general courtroom availability.
Why habeas corpus gets this priority
A habeas corpus case typically concerns a person's actual physical liberty directly — specifically, whether someone is currently being unlawfully detained against their will. The genuine urgency inherent in that kind of underlying question is clearly reflected in this rule's explicit instruction that such cases receive preference on the calendar, moving ahead of other matters that simply do not carry the same immediate stakes for the individuals involved.
The open-ended 'required by law' category
Beyond the three specifically named categories, the rule also folds in cases that are so required by law to be given preference generally — an acknowledgment that other statutes existing outside these Rules of Court may separately mandate priority handling for particular additional kinds of cases, which the court's calendar must likewise accommodate alongside habeas corpus, election, and special civil action cases. This keeps the calendar rule future-proof, since a later statute can add a new preferred category without needing to amend this Rule itself.