05/14/2020
This is an abbreviated version of the New Rules for the Tulsa County Family Court Dockets. It is a lot to take in and many things have changed. I was unable to produce the chart regarding the scheduling of in person and technology assisted hearings. This chart is "Docket Specific". The Protective Order Docket Rules are also different than the rules posted below.
Please contact your lawyer, or feel free to contact me if you do not have a lawyer, regarding questions you have of this information. Stay safe.
Family Court Dockets
General Recommendations for Dockets A-D, 3rd Floor
GENERAL PUBLIC: Only the lawyers, parties and witnesses are allowed in all Family Division courtrooms and waiting spaces. No family members, partners, or other support
persons or children are allowed unless they are a witness present to testify at a hearing set that day.
BAILIFF: The third-floor domestic shares one Bailiff. The Bailiff will assist with crowd control into and out of the third floor waiting area and ensure that social distancing
requirements of the District Court are enforced.
PPE; All PPE requirements of the Supreme Court and District Court shall be enforced.
Due to the lack of gloves, and in keeping with National Center for State Courts' literature, it is recommended that all Judges and court personnel break for hand washing once per hour during any in-person hearings.
DOORS TO COURTROOM AND BOTH DOUBLE DOORS WILL CONTINUE TO BE LOCKED:
To protect the health and safety of judges and other court employees, both the "in and out boxes" for the attorneys will remain in the common area of the Family Division.
Neither the public, litigants or attorneys are allowed in the clerks' area during Phase 1 or until restrictions are eased by further order of the District Court.
LAWYER CONFERENCING WITH OPPOSING COUNSEL AND COURT:
Lawyers must confer 2 weeks ahead of their scheduled hearing in an attempt to resolve or reduce the issues for hearing. After conferring, the lawyers shall notify the court not
later than 10 days ahead of the court date whether the matter to be heard has been resolved or is ready to be heard.
If a hearing is necessary, court and counsel will determine whether an in-person hearing or tele/video hearing will be conducted. If an in-person hearing is required, the court will
determine the time of the hearing so that all in-person hearings for each judge are appropriately spaced out in keeping with the schedule herein.
If a conference telephone call or video conference will be held, either the court may initiate it or direct counsel to do so.
All conferencing/negotiations must be conducted out of the courthouse and before hearings. All parties must exit the courthouse Promptly following court hearings so that
other hearings can be appropriately spaced.
DOCKET TRIAGE:
In coordination with the lawyer conferencing as set out above, every Friday each division judge will triage their upcoming docket and, with the assistance of their clerk,
make determinations as to any hearings that are moot or need to be re-scheduled or stricken. The Family Court Resource Coordinator can assist the Judges and Clerks in
contacting any counsel who have not already contacted the court as to the readiness of their case.
TELEPHONE OR VIDEOCONFERENCING FOR HEARINGS:
In each judges' discretion and to the fullest extent possible, telephone or videoconferencing shall be used to hear cases on the docket. The following types of hearings shall be conducted with the assistance of technology, either by telephone conference call or by videoconferencing:
Arraignments
Agreed Divorces
Status Conferences
Motions to Compel Discovery
Discovery disputes
Motions - basic
Motions to Enforce Visitation
Motion to Enforce Settlement
Show Cause Hearings
SCHEDULING FOR TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED HEARINGS AND IN-PERSON HEARINGS:
Each Judge will set certain blocks of time each day for technology-assisted hearings and in-person hearings as set out in the spreadsheet below. The in-person hearing will be staggered among the 3rd floor judges to reduce the number of people in the; floor~family courts. At no time will the courtroom have more than the current it-mandated number of people in the courtroom. Each judge, in his or her
discretion, may have fewer numbers of people based upon the size of the courtroom and the need for social distancing and balancing those needs against the
access to justice and the timely resolution of cases. The Court may initiate tele or video conferencing or may direct counsel to do so. Any evidentiary hearing or trial will be specially set by the Judge in a manner that does not create a large "docket call". The chart below references FD Dockets A through E and may change as the judges' workload requires but will be used during Phase 1 or until restrictions are eased by
further order of the District Court. (I did not attach the chart, please contact your lawyer or myself if you do not have a lawyer regarding this chart)
AGREED DIVORCES:
To facilitate timely resolution of cases and reduce any backlog, Agreed Divorces will be heard daily at 1:00.
Pro se litigants appearing for an Agreed Divorce shall check in first with the 2nd Floor Domestic Clerk's Desk to be directed to their assigned judge. To ensure pro per social distancing, the Clerk's desk shall send no more than 3 cases at a time, in 15 minute increments, to the assigned judge.
Pro se litigants with access to technology must email any proposed Decree of Dissolution/Divorce and supporting jurisdictional affidavits to their judge's minute clerk
for the judge's review.
Docket E, 1st Floor" Judge Evans
Judge Evans will use the protocols and schedule set out above.
PPC Docket, 6th Floor-Judge Doss
Until August 1, 2020 or further order of the District Court easing restrictions, PPC Dockets will be significantly reduced as follows:
- The PPC will be waived for anyone who has reached an Agreed TO and completed an online divorce adjustment workshop through Family& Children's Services (Helping Children Cope with Divorce) or OSU-s Parenting Through
Divorce within 30 days of filing for divorce.
- Both the Judge's comments to the parents and the video "Listen to the Voices of the Children of Divorce" they watch about the impact of divorce on children' be'available on the Court's website and parties will fill out an attestation they
have watched both.
- PPC docket numbers overall will be reduced to meet both federal and state mandates as to the number of people who may be present in one room and also spread out between a 9:00 and 10:30 docket.
When parties come to the PPC docket, it will be limited to negotiating a Temporary Order, getting any information they need about community resources, and getting a referral to their trial judge if they need a TO Hearing.
- Helping Children Cope with Divorce as well as the OSU Divorce Workshop will continue to be available online.
District Judge Wall has given permission for Courtroom 601 to be used, in addition to the ceremonial Courtroom 605, for appropriate spacing of litigants; lawyers.
Child Support Dockets 6th floor-Judge Doss
General: All in-person cases shall be staggered setting specific appointment times for each case rather than a docket call at 9:00.
For Contempt reviews--setting cases 15 minutes apart-- may not appear until 10 minutes before their appointed
hearing.
Contempt Docket:
-Arraignments: . Arraignments BlueJeans,
-Pre-Trial Stage The week the trial is set, the moving party shall notify the Court's minute clerk by Wednesday whether or not the defendant is in compliance for proper spacing;
scheduling of the Friday trial docket.
Trial Stage:
Plea agreements by email to^the judge. The Plea agreement contains the new date and time for the review hearing. No need for in-person appearances as Obligor will have notice of the review date from the plea agreement. .
BlueJeans videoconferencing shall be used to conduct a trial on the contempt action when the parties do not agree to enter a Plea Agreement.
-Exhibits are to be exchanged in advance and provided to the court in a time frame designated by the court.
In Cases where COVID-19 has been the cause for non compliance in a contempt action no ex*****on will issue and these reviews will be passed to another date.
o The court wilt hear in-person cases set for review of a non-compliant obligor where ex*****on of sentence is requested by the moving party.
o CSS could appear remotely (by telephone or through BlueJeans).
o CSS would still need to sign off on any orders that take a judgment for past support. CSS may contact other parties in advance and make an announcement via or'virtual/phone appearance regarding a continuance or request for hearing. Upon a request by the moving party, an in-person appearance by a noncompliant obligor may be needed so that the obligor can be taken into custody immediately. All other parties could appear virtually via BlueJeans or telephone; . The Court will recognize the obligor back for future review dates via BlueJeans or written continuance order mailed/emailed to the obligor. The Court will stagger the in-person cases on the docket and limiting the parties/counsel appearing in-person for each case as per above general
guideline.
-Purge Hearings:
CSS will appear virtually (telephonically or via position'to'the'court in advance without the need for personal appearance. The obligor must appear in-person.
Attorney Fee Hearings on Contempt cases:
The court will give all parties a date and time certain for their hearings which will be conducted by videoconference to the extent possible.
PPE requirements of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and District Court must be observed to the fullest extent possible. ' Litigants without PPE should meet with the
Bailiff first to determine whether PPE can by supplied by the court.
