In an effort to make the Wednesday morning dependency calendar more efficient for very brief hearings, Commissioner Brandon Mack will test out a new schedule with two calendars. The 9:00 a.m. calendar will include hearings that tend to be shorter. These will include first set fact findings, shelter care hearings, status hearings, and motions that are likely to be agreed by all parties. The second calendar will start at 9:30 a.m. and is intended to include review hearings, permanency planning hearings, and contested motions.
The new calendar system will go into effect on April 1, 2020, for a several month trial period.
This suggestion comes from participants of the quarterly court improvement meetings who suggested trying a divided calendar to solve the problem of parties waiting around for hours on a Wednesday morning just to have a simple 5 minute hearing.
Youth-at-risk/chins calendar will remain at 8:15.