JS Divisional Instructions

Remote Appearances

DELINQUENCY HEARINGS:

All hearings will be held IN PERSON. Parties and Counsel must personally appear in Court

Zoom appearance SHALL be permitted in the following circumstances as they constitute good cause:

Youth may appear from school, with prior arrangements being made with School Liaison;
Youth who are in foster care and/or in a group home out of County
Youth and/or Parent may appear from treatment program
Youth and/or Parent(s) may appear from jail/correction facility if they are not in Palm Beach County, Counsel is responsible for properly filing all transport orders
Juvenile Probation Officer
Treatment Program representatives
Attorneys when they are appearing at the Main Courthouse and may have scheduling conflicts

DEPENDENCY/TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS MATTERS

All hearings/trials/adjudicatory hearings will be held IN PERSON. Parties and Counsel must personally appear in Court

Zoom appearance SHALL be permitted in the following circumstances as they constitute good cause:

Youth may appear from school, with prior arrangements being made with School Liaison
Youth who are in foster care and/or a group home out of County
Youth and/or Parent may appear from treatment program
Youth and/Parent(s) may appear from jail/correction facility if they are not in Palm Beach County, Counsel is responsible for properly filing all transport orders
Juvenile Probation Officer if they wish to attend the Judicial Review
Treatment Program representatives
Attorneys when they are appearing at the Main Courthouse and may have scheduling conflicts

The Court may grant Zoom appearances in other Circumstances, however a Motion must be filed as follows:

The party requesting to appear remotely must file a written Motion to Appear Remotely no less than 3 days prior to the hearing and send a courtesy copy to the CAD email copying all parties. Parties must confer and advise the court in the motion if any party objects to the motion. The Court will issue a ruling based upon the motion. It is the Moving party's responsibility to submit a proposed order (via OLS) with the Court Zoom Information in the proposed order. In an emergency please email the JA via email at CAD-DivisionJS@pbcgov.org regarding the emergency and MUST file an EMERGENCY MOTION to appear via zoom.

Divisional Static Zoom Meeting

Only to be used If you have been granted PRIOR permission to appear via zoom

When joining the hearing, all parties will be placed in a waiting room until admitted by the Court.

Meeting Link: Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 892 6526 0619

Dial by your location:

US Toll-free 877-853-5257

US Toll-free 888-475-4499

Delinquency Proceedings

Arraignments are set by the clerk to be heard on Wednesdays and/or Fridays. Upon the filing of a Waiver of Arraignment, the Arraignment will be cancelled and a status check will automatically be set approximately 7 days out from the arraignment on a Wednesday or a Friday by the Clerk of Court.

Status Check Hearings may be reset by agreed order and SHALL be filed no less than 48 hours prior to the hearings.

Routine/Short Non-Evidentiary Motions: Any motion anticipated to be less than 10 minutes for routine matters may be set by the parties on the morning docket which is held on Wednesday and Friday. The parties must confer prior to setting the hearing and the Moving Party SHALL file the notice of hearing with the clerks office and cc the CAD-DivisionJS@pbcgov.org to notify the court that a hearing has been set.

ALL NOTICES OF HEARING SHALL BE FILED 72 HOURS PRIOR TO THE HEARING IF THE NOTICE IS FILED LESS THEN 72 HOURS PRIOR TO THE HEARING IT MUST BE FILED AS AN EMERGENCY. ALL motions must be filed prior to setting the hearing. The prevailing party SHALL submit proposed orders no later than 3 days after the Court has ruled.

ALL PARTIES SHALL follow Local Rule 4, prior to setting a matter for hearing, the party or attorney noticing the motion/matter shall attempt to resolve the matter and shall certify the good faith attempt to resolve it.

Delinquency Judicial Reviews; These hearings are set by the Court they CANNOT be cancelled or continued by agreed order. A motion must be filed, and a hearing must be set. All proposed orders must contain a new agreed date, no more than 30 days from the original date, for the Court to consider when determining if a continuance will be granted.

Trials and any special set evidentiary hearings are set on Thursday or Friday Afternoons.Trials cannot be continued by agreement without the filing of a Motion and Proposed Order for the Court's review. Contested Continuances MUST be set for hearing. If an EMERGENCY arises please see below.

Hearings lasting more than 10 minutes or that involve evidentiary Matters MUST be Specially Set

Once your Motion has been docketed in the court file, you may request hearing time by contacting the JA via email at CAD-DivisionJS@pbcgov.org with the following information noted in the Email request:

Case number
Case style
Complete caption of motion being set
Docket number of motion being set
Amount of time required for hearing

Please copy opposing counsel/parties on all email transmissions to the J.A.

The Judicial Assistant will provide available hearing dates / times. After coordinating with all parties, please confirm the selected date / time with the Judicial Assistant. Please note that hearing dates / times will be held for no more than 24 hours.

Dependency

Dependency Arraignments will be heard on Tuesdays at 8:30 AM.

All routine hearings (including but not limited to status checks and calendar calls) and motions that are less than 10 minutes will be heard on Tuesdays at 9AM.

All dependency motions that last more than 10 minutes must be set by contacting the Court's JA at CAD-DivisionJS@pbcgov.org. Specially set motions will not be heard prior to 10 AM on Tuesdays. Evidentiary Motions SHALL only be set by contacting the Court's JA for dates and times at CAD-DivisionJS@pbcgov.org.

Case number
Case style
Complete caption of motion being set
Docket number of motion being set
Amount of time required for hearing

Please copy opposing counsel/parties on all email transmissions to the J.A.

Judicial Reviews/Permanency Hearings are heard on Tuesday afternoons, and the 4th Monday of each month beginning at 1:30. If any party is seeking a goal change or to change a judicial review to a permanency hearing proper notice must be filed at least 5 days prior to the hearing. This means that any party requesting such a change SHALL ensure all parties and the Court receive the JRSSR, the Guardian Ad Litem Report or any Motion asking for such a change no less than 5 days prior to the hearing. Judicial Reviews and Permanency Hearings SHALL not be cancelled without leave of the Court.

ALL Injunctions will be heard on Thursday Mornings.

Dependency and Termination of Parental Rights Trials are set by the Court and will typically be heard on Mondays.

All Termination of Parental Rights adjudicatory hearings will be held in person unless otherwise ordered by the Court.

Motions to Reopen, prior to scheduling an evidentiary hearing the case MUST be set for a status check on the Tuesday morning docket. Please Contact the Court's Judicial Assistant for dates and times.

Family Cases

Hearings/Motions SHALL only be set by contacting the Court's JA for dates and times at CAD-DivisionJS@pbcgov.org.

Case number
Case style
Complete caption of motion being set
Docket number of motion being set
Amount of time required for hearing

Please copy opposing counsel/parties on all email transmissions to the J.A.

Court Interpreters

If you have a case that is in need of the assistance of a Court Interpreter, it is the responsibility of the parties' counsel to contact the Court Interpreter's Office to request the interpreter. You MUST utilize the interpreter online request system and submit an official request at Request an Interpreter. For languages other than Spanish and Creole, please submit your request with as much possible notice as possible as a contracted interpreter will need to be secured.

For lengthy hearings, please be advised that for Spanish and Creole, our interpreters need at least 5 working days advance notice, and up to 10 days advance notice for all other languages.

In addition, you MUST send an email to the Divisional CAD at, CAD-DivisionJS@pbcgov.org and to CAD-ALLCOURTINTERPRETERS@pbcgov.org, and all parties confirming you have submitted an official request and including the case name, case number, language needed, the start time of the hearing, and the amount of time expected for the hearing.

Exhibits

All hearing materials/binders shall be mailed/delivered to the courthouse for the Judge to review prior to the scheduled hearing and must be received at least five (5) days prior to the scheduled hearing. A courtesy e-binder may be sent to the J.A. in addition to the hardcopy. Failure to provide exhibits timely may result in a continuation of your hearing.

Emergency Hearings

Please refer to Administrative Order 3.206

For any true emergency matter, you must file a motion for emergency hearing pursuant to the above referenced Administrative Order.

Submit the original motion directly to the Clerk and email a copy of the Emergency Motion to the J.A. for the Judge's review and determination if the matter is a true emergency.

The motion should indicate how much hearing time will be needed and include any supporting information which will help the Judge determine if the matter is an emergency. Please ensure all parties' contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) is provided on the Emergency Motion.

After the judge has reviewed the motion, he will either rule the Motion is denied as an emergency or the Judicial Assistant will contact the moving party with instructions.

Evidence Procedure

For ALL Hearings and Trials, all evidence must be marked and prepared prior to the hearing. All parties must ensure that they have the appropriate copies for all parties. If the parties have stipulated to the admission of evidence then the stipulation must be filed no less than 24 hours before the hearing or trial.

Proposed Orders

Effective February 8,2021: All proposed Orders should be submitted through the Online Court Services (OLS) portal. Any Proposed Orders submitted via email will be rejected.All Orders must include a complete service list in the "copies furnished section" with complete email address.

Special motions that you E-File with the Clerk of Court should also be emailed directly to the Judge's Office for review are:

Motions to Continue
Emergency Motions
Motions for Disqualification/Recusal
Motions for Re-Hearing

Communicating with the Court

Unless otherwise directed, all out-of-court communications with the Court are to be through the Court's Judicial Assistant (JA). Unless otherwise expressly permitted, all case-related correspondence must be copied to all parties and shall be limited to scheduling matters or providing pleadings and draft orders for the Court's review. Any case-related emails from non-attorney litigants will be filed in the Court file and sent to all attorneys of record.

Please note that these procedures do not override the local rules and/or any Administrative Orders.