Advisory Committee on Rules for Family Proceedings Meeting - October 25, 2024

VERMONT SUPREME COURT
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON RULES FOR FAMILY PROCEEDINGS
AGENDA FOR MEETING OF
October 25, 2024

The Family Rules Committee will meet virtually on TEAMS on October 25, 2024, from 1:30 - 3:00 pm to consider the following agenda:

1. Welcome and Introductions

2. Approval of draft minutes for the meeting of July 19, 2024.

3. Status of proposed amendments:
a. Amendment to V.R.F.P. 1(i)(2)(B) and (7) related to respectful language: reviewed favorably by the Legislative Committee on Judicial Rules (LCJR) on June 19, 2024. Promulgated August 12, 2024, effective 1/1/25.
b. Amendment to Remove V.R.F.P. 15(i) related to eCabinet registration number requirement: Promulgated August 12, 2024, effective 1/1/25. Reviewed favorably by LCJR on October 16, 2024.
c. Rules related to Special Immigration Status for Vulnerable Non-Citizen Children (SJIS): See 4 V.S.A. § 33(18), 4 V.S.A. § 35, 14 V.S.A. § 3098. S.163/Act 98 substantially amends 14 V.S.A. § 3098 and adds a new section related to children in juvenile proceedings. Out for comment. Reviewed favorably by LCJR on October 16, 2024. Comments due by October 14, 2024. Judge McDonald-Cady to report.

4. Proposed Rule for Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO): A draft for a new family court rule has been submitted by the ERPO Subcommittee (Judge McDonald-Cady, Rachel Streker, Laura Bierly, Susan Buckholz and Kristin Gozzi) for discussion by the full Committee. A draft of the new rule was sent to the full Committee in early October.

5. Amendment to Rule 4.2(e) Related to Venue for Post-Judgment Motions: The current rule allows a litigant to file a motion in a county other than the county where the original judgment was issued unless the opposing party still resides in the original county or neither party is a resident of the state. The framework of the new e-filing system requires a change of venue to be filed in the original county where the divorce was obtained before the case can be moved to another county. The Subcommittee on Post Judgment motions (Magistrate Peterson, Maggie Villeneuve and Judge Davenport) has proposed a draft rule amendment for consideration by the full committee.

6. Applicability of V.R.Cr.P. 41.1 (Non-Testimonial Orders) to Juvenile Proceedings. The Committee has proposed a joint meeting with members from the Criminal Rules Committee to discuss the issues. Members from this Committee are: Judge McDonald- Cady, Marshall Pahl, Emily Zukuaskas and Judge Davenport. We are waiting to hear back from the Criminal Rules Committee which will meet in early November.

7. Inconsistency between 15 V.S.A. § 783 and V.R.F.P. 4.3(b)(2)(C) related to the scheduling of wage withholding petitions. Judge McDonald-Cady to report.

8. On Hold
a. Proposal to review Family Rules for respectful language: Continued committee discussion re process for review. This project is currently on hold due to other priorities for the Committee.
b. Amendment to Rule 4.2(f) to require an automatic scheduling of a child support hearing when the extent of parent-child contact is modified: At our last meeting a subcommittee was formed to work on this (Mag. Peterson, Jessica Semen, Rachel Streker and Judge Davenport). The Subcommittee has not yet met due to work on other issues.

9. New Business
a. Amendment to Rule 1 to allow the issuance of temporary conditions of release in delinquency proceedings prior to preliminary hearing. Rule 1 does not currently authorize the issuance of conditions of release prior to a preliminary hearing. V.R.Cr.P. 5(b) which permits and the issuance of conditions of release prior to a preliminary hearing upon the release of persons who are arrested, is not applicable to delinquency proceedings pursuant to Rule 1(a)(1). The issue is whether to amend Rule 1 to allow for the issuance of conditions of release prior to a preliminary hearing. Attorney Pahl to discuss.
b. Amendment to Rules 2 and 3 related to the testimony of children. Currently, the rules for procedure in CHINS and TPR cases do not address the conditions under which children may testify. A proposal to amend Rules 2 and 3 has been drafted by the Attorney General's Office. Attorney Harriman to discuss.
c. Amendment to Rule 17(f) related to hybrid proceedings. Currently Rule 17(f) requires that abuse prevention proceedings be hybrid unless court orders court participation by another method. There is a proposal to expand this provision to include Vulnerable Adult Protection matters brought under 33 V.S.A. § 6932-6942. Attorney Strecker to discuss.

10. 2025 Meeting Schedule: Schedule for meeting dates in 2025: January 24, April 25, July 18, October 24.

11. Adjourn

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.