Say the judge severs separate offenses originally charged in one indictment; how should the clerk distinguish between the new, separate criminal actions? Is there are right or wrong way, or does it depend on the local system in place?

Our clerk would add an "A" and a "B" to the cause number for each count.

The A, B, C is the way we used to do it because it is so easy, but the clerk's current computer program can't handle it. You might check there first.

In advising clerks, we always tell them that how they number cases is up to them; it's an indexing system they use to locate and file documents and as long as they can do that they can number in any way they see fit.