It has been announced that the Douglas County, Colorado, judicial officer assignments for family law cases (divorce, child custody, et cetera) are in the process of changing.  Some of you involved in a case currently may have noticed that changes are already being made in the courtroom that their case is appearing in.  These changes are being made slowly and will not be finalized until the end of October.

By the beginning of November, 2014, all of the pre-decree divorce and allocation of parental responsibilities cases involving attorneys will be set entirely either in Division 4 (Judge Arkin) or Division 6 (Judge Chase).  Pre-decree cases that do not involve attorneys will be handled by the family court facilitator, and contested hearings will be heard either in Division 2 (Magistrate Elliot-Dumler) or Division 7 (Magistrate Moss).

All of the post-decree modification family law cases will initially be set with the family court facilitator, and contested matters will be heard either in Division 2, Division 7, or Division 8 (Judge Spear).

This reassignment is a significant change from how it used to be in Douglas County for many years.  However, most of the various case management orders that have always been in place in family law cases in Douglas County will continue, including that mediation is a requirement before any contested hearing can occur.  If you have a contested hearing set in front of any of the above judges or magistrates in Douglas County, you are probably required to participate in mediation prior to the hearing.  Feel free to contact us to schedule your next mediation.