SLR 4-11.045: GENERAL PROCEDURES FOR SCHEDULING HEARINGS FOR JUVENILE CASES

JUVENILE CASES (1) Delinquency cases. When a petition is filed on a delinquency case, the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office shall schedule hearings required by statute, as well as Plea, Trial Readiness and Call dates as follows: (a) Plea. If the youth is in custody, a plea hearing will be set for Call seven (7) calendar days from the preliminary hearing. (b) Ten Day Review. In custody youth will be scheduled for a ten (10) day review hearing every ten (10) court business days that they are held in custody, except for youth with waiver motions pending which will be scheduled for a review hearing every thirty (30) days. This hearing shall be set on the detention review docket. Scheduling of these hearings shall be coordinated by the staff of the Juvenile Services Division. Youth may waive appearance at detention review hearings. (c) Trial Readiness. Trial Readiness is heard at Call. Attorneys shall report whether they are ready to proceed to trial. If attorneys are not ready to proceed to trial, a new trial readiness date will be set. Substantial cause is needed to set a Trial Readiness date more than 60 days past the date the petition was filed. If attorneys are ready to proceed to trial, a Call date will be set. (i) In custody youth: Trial Readiness date is set 2 weeks from the preliminary hearing. (ii) Out of custody youth: Trial Readiness date is set 5 weeks from the preliminary hearing. (iii) Community Detention youth: Trial Readiness date is set 4 weeks from the preliminary hearing. (d) Call. At the Call proceeding, the case will be assigned to a judicial officer for trial two judicial days following the call date. A party needing a setover shall request the setover three (3) days before the Call date. Only in emergency situations will a setover be granted at Call. (e) Case Management Conferences for Serious Offenses. Case management conferences (CMCs) shall be set within sixty (60) days of the initial appearance, the filing of the order staying the proceeding, or the filing of the motion seeking waiver and as scheduled thereafter at the discretion the initial case management conference judge. Cases that are assigned a CMC date shall not have trial readiness or call hearings while the CMCs are occurring, unless such dates are scheduled by the CMC judge. Case management conferences shall be set in cases with the following charges: (i) Sex Offender Cases (i) Aid and Assist Motions (ii) Motions for Waiver Hearing (iii) Youths charged with Murder (iv) Youth charged with Attempted Murder (v) Robbery in the First Degree (vi) Kidnapping in the First Degree (f) Case Management Conferences in All Other Cases. In all other cases, a CMC will be scheduled six (6) months after the initial appearance and as scheduled by the initial CMC judge. Cases that are assigned a CMC date shall not have trial readiness or call hearings while the CMCs are occurring, unless such dates are scheduled by the CMC judge. (2) Dependency cases. When a petition is filed in a dependency case, the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office schedules hearings required by statute, as well as other hearings and conferences. All reviews in a dependency case will be heard by the judge of the case. (a) Initial Shelter Hearing. A pre-trial/settlement conference shall be set within 21 days and the call and trial dates shall be set within 60 days from the date of the initial shelter hearing. (b) Second Shelter Hearing. A second shelter hearing may be set after the initial shelter hearing. The shelter hearing is set by the judicial officer during the initial shelter hearing, or at a later time within the judicial officer’s discretion. (c) Pre-trial conference/settlement conference. The pre-trial conference is set for 30 minutes before the settlement conference begins, but is not scheduled on a judicial officer’s docket. If the case is not settled at the pre-trial/settlement conference, the case will continue to the scheduled call and trial dates, unless the dates are modified by the judicial officer at the conference. The following procedures shall apply to the PTC/SLC: (i) Parties will exchange offers in advance of PTC/SLC date; (ii) Parties will use the “out of court time” to provide updated proposals on the date of PTC/SLC; (iii) The judge will actively engage with the parties to see if there is a path to early resolution at the PTC/SLC; and (iv) The judge may set an additional settlement conference on his or her docket if the judge decides that it will assist the parties reach a resolution. (d) Discovery and Pretrial Matters. (i) Timing. Each party shall disclose the information provided for in ORS 419B.381(1) as soon as practicable following the filing of the petition. To ensure meaningful settlement conversations at the PTC/SLC, ODHS shall use best efforts to make discovery at least three days prior to the PTC/SLC. ODHS and the other parties shall make discovery no later than 30 days from the filing of the petition; (ii) If a discovery issue is identified leading up to the PTC/SLC, issues will be addressed at PTC/SLC with the Judge of the Case (the judicial officer assigned to the case) (JOC); (iii) If there are additional discovery issues that occur after the PTC/SLC and before the call date, motions need to be filed in accordance with SLR 11.045(6) and heard by the JOC. The JOC will issue appropriate orders or sanctions relating to any discovery issues; (iv) Discovery issues may also be raised at call or with the trial judge (i.e. the judge who is assigned the case at call for trial) after case assignment. The call judge or trial judge will issue appropriate orders or sanctions relating to any discovery issues; (v) Other contested pretrial matters, such as remote witness testimony or motions in limine, may be presented to the JOC if it can be addressed pretrial or to the trial judge if the JOC determines that the matter should be addressed by the trial judge; and (vi) Uncontested pretrial matters, other than requests for setovers, may be presented to the JOC or to the judge handling ex parte. (e) Procedure for Seeking a Postponement of Trial. (i) Time for filing. A Motion for Postponement of Trial shall be filed not later than 11:00 a.m. Tuesday of the week preceding the scheduled call date. Exceptions to this rule will be made only for those matters not reasonably known to counsel exercising reasonable diligence in preparing for trial. (ii) Request Made by Motion and Declaration. All motions for continuances, other than those heard by the judge of the case at a scheduled hearing, shall be submitted with an affidavit or declaration setting forth the good cause for the continuance, counsel’s efforts to avoid the continuance, the interests of the party that would be prejudiced if a continuance is not granted, and the other parties’ positions. (iii) If a case is scheduled for a review, permanency, or other hearing in front of the JOC before the call date and the parties and judicial officer agree that the call date should be setover, the JOC can re-set the call date during that hearing. All other requests for a setover in advance of the call date shall be presented to the Chief Family Law Judge. If not addressed previously, motions for setovers will be made to the call judge or the trial judge; and (iv) The Chief Family Law Judge shall issue guidance regarding good cause for postponement of trials. (f) Dependency/Termination of Parental Rights Call. At the Call proceeding, the case will be assigned to a judicial officer for trial on the following week. Call is held at 8:30 AM on Thursdays. (3) Private Dependency Petitions. When a private petition is filed in a dependency case, the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office schedules hearings required by statute, as well as other hearings and conferences. All reviews in a dependency case will be heard by the judge/referee of the case. (a) When a private petition is filed, that moving party shall notify the Juvenile Court Clerk’s office to schedule the preliminary hearing. (a) The party filing a private petition is responsible for providing the discovery to the court and other parties in the in case. (b) The party filing a private petition is responsible for ensuring that service of the petition and summons is effected on the parties. (4) Termination of parental rights cases (a) The initial appearance date shall be set by the Juvenile Court Clerk’s office. At the time of the Initial Appearance hearing, if the parents appear and contest the petition, the matter shall be set for a Best Interest/pre-trial conference, call and trial. (a) The Best Interest/pre-trial conference shall be set before the judicial officer assigned to the case (not the trial judge), to seek possible means for resolving pre- trial issues. (5) Petitions for judicial determination. Petitions for judicial determination are filed by the Department of Human Services with the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office. The Clerk’s Office schedules an initial review and assigns a judicial officer as judge/referee of the case. All subsequent hearings shall be set by the judge of the case either upon the court’s own motion, upon motion of the child(ren) or parent(s), or, if requested, by the Department of Human Services pursuant to ORS 418.312. (6) Motions or other specially set matters. Any motion or other matter for which oral argument is requested must include in the caption of the motion that request (“Oral Argument Requested”) and, if the matter is a dependency case, the next scheduled hearing date (Next Scheduled Hearing Date: ____________). (a) Dependency case: If the requesting party believes that the time allotted for the next hearing is not sufficient to accommodate argument on the motion, the requesting party shall contact the staff of the Judge/Referee of the case to schedule additional hearing time after consulting with the other parties on their availability. The date and time of the additional hearing time shall be included in the caption of the Motion that is served on the parties (“Motion Scheduled for _____________________”). Alternatively, the Judge/Referee of the Case, on his or her receipt of the motion, may conclude that the next scheduled hearing date is insufficient to accommodate argument of the motion. In this situation, the staff of that Judge/Referee will notify the moving party of that party’s obligation to coordinate scheduling of a motion hearing and serve notice of that hearing. (a) Delinquency case: If there is a Judge/Referee of the Case, the requesting party shall contact the staff of that judicial officer regarding scheduling (and whether the Judge/Referee of the Case should hear the motion) and include in the caption of the motion that is served on the parties the date and time of the motion hearing (“Motion Scheduled for _____________________”). If there is no Judge/Referee of the Case (or if the Judge/Referee of the Case so directs the requesting party), the requesting party shall coordinate with the parties on scheduling of a motion hearing and contact the Juvenile Clerk’s office to place the matter on the Call docket for hearing. (7) Unless stipulated, or compelling cause is found, motions to terminate wardship in a dependency matter shall be filed and served at least 14 days before hearing on the motion.