SLR 22-12.011: Mediation in Child Custody and Parenting Time Visitation Issues

(1) COMMENCEMENT OF MEDIATION BY STIPULATED REQUEST FOR MEDIATION Except as provided in the last sentence of this subsection, mediation may be commenced at any stage of a pending domestic relations proceeding by the stipulation of the parties or Page 22 of 29 Reissued: February 1, 2026 22nd Judicial District Crook/Jefferson Counties by court order. Court orders may be granted at the discretion of the court, on the motion of either party or on the court's own motion. If a general judgment of dissolution has been entered in a domestic relations case and the judgment provided that the parties may mediate any custody or parenting time issue without a motion to show cause or enforce, the parties may do so by filing a stipulated motion for mediation. (2) MEDIATION AND CUSTODY/PARENTING TIME STUDY BEFORE HEARING Subject to the provisions of ORS 107.755, 107.097, 107.138 AND 107.718, the court may decline to hear a custody or parenting time dispute until and unless the parties have participated in mediation in order to resolve the issues between them. The court may order mediation and require the parties to participate in the mediation upon its own motion even in the absence of a request from one or both of the parties. (3) GOOD FAITH REQUIRED Mediation may not be used by any parent in bad faith for the purposes of delay or resolution of other issues. If the court finds at any time that the mediation process is being misused in violation of this rule, it may determine that mediation has been unsuccessful. (4) UNSUCCESSFUL MEDIATION In the event the parents are not successful in mediating the custody or parenting time controversy, the mediator will notify the court. The matter will be scheduled for a hearing in the same course and with the same priority on the docket as though there had been no mediation. CHAPTER 13 - ARBITRATION