Judicial Service Officer's role

[kaizen]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MI

If a JSO writes a letter, tells you to do something (in this case, wrote to ncp telling him I was due make up time and to bring child home today at 5pm)...is it a request or an order?

Here's the portion, verbatim:

"Please be advised that you are required to follow your court order and additional violations may result in a show cause hearing against you. At this point, Ms. Mom is entitled to makeup parenting time and she has requested for makeup the weekend of April 18 through April 20, 2014, and she requests that the minor child be returned early on January 26, 2014 at 5:00pm.

Failure to comply with this request may result in a show cause hearing against you.

You are required to write a response to this letter and state that you understand your court order and will follow same."

When son didn't come home at five, I sent a text to Dad asking where son was. Dad responded by saying "With me. I didn't get a response from FOC so the payback is not in effect yet."

It didn't sound to me like the JSO's letter was a suggestion, or open for discussion. Do her words carry the weight a judge's or referee's do? I know if a judge told me that, I'd do it right away. Does dad get leeway here because it was from JSO?

 

[BigMouthWino]

What time is Dad supposed to have kiddo home to you by normally?

 

[kaizen]

8:00 pm normally.

 

[BigMouthWino]

8:00 pm normally.

So, let me get this straight, you and Dad are arguing over 3 hours? THREE HOURS?

One of you is going to have to decide who is going to grow up and be the adult. Running to the Court over 3 hours is a waste of judicial resources and only serves to strain the relationship with Dad. It sounds like Dad recognizes your immaturity and is flipping you the proverbial bird.

 

[single317dad]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MI

If a JSO writes a letter, tells you to do something (in this case, wrote to ncp telling him I was due make up time and to bring child home today at 5pm)...is it a request or an order?

Here's the portion, verbatim:

"Please be advised that you are required to follow your court order and additional violations may result in a show cause hearing against you. At this point, Ms. Mom is entitled to makeup parenting time and she has requested for makeup the weekend of April 18 through April 20, 2014, and she requests that the minor child be returned early on January 26, 2014 at 5:00pm.

Failure to comply with this request may result in a show cause hearing against you.

You are required to write a response to this letter and state that you understand your court order and will follow same."

When son didn't come home at five, I sent a text to Dad asking where son was. Dad responded by saying "With me. I didn't get a response from FOC so the payback is not in effect yet."

It didn't sound to me like the JSO's letter was a suggestion, or open for discussion. Do her words carry the weight a judge's or referee's do? I know if a judge told me that, I'd do it right away. Does dad get leeway here because it was from JSO?

The letter reads like a mixture of suggestion and order. It demands Dad comply with your requests, but doesn't set out any penalty other than "maybe" a hearing for possible contempt. Of course, the judge or FOC isn't going ot be happy that Dad basically wiped his shoes with this demand, but whether anything will be done about it? Don't hold your breath.

http://www.macombcountymi.gov/circuitcourt/friendofthecourt_faq.htm

Question:
What is a Judicial Service Officer (JSO) and what do they do?
Answer:
The Friend of the Court JSO manages a Friend of the Court case load of approximately 3,000 cases. The JSO will review and respond to correspondence and enforce support, parenting time, and custody orders. The JSO will also appear in Court on Show Cause and Bench Warrant Hearings. A JSO may also authorize petitions, ex parte orders, and other Court Orders as appropriate.

http://www.stclaircounty.org/offices/hr/printjobdescriptions.aspx?id=80

 

[stealth2]

I don't believe the JSO has the authority to 'order" Dad to do anything.

And really? By now you should know to keep your posts together, rather than scattered across a myriad of threads.

 

[gam]

I liked to know what a JSO is? Not a term that the court Kaizen's case is in uses. Kaizen if your talking about someone from FOC then FOC can enforce the order, and it is an order. However since this is over makeup time due you that FOC decided by holding an investigation, then no it's not an order. Anything FOC decides outside of what is directly written in the order is just a recommendation and either party can object and have the court decide.

That would be if this went the normal way, but I am a bit confused by the usage of the term JSO? If you want to clarify this then perhaps you will get better advice.

For others reading, Kaizen's case is the same court that I have sat in for 10 years, I know exactly how things are done there, they have not changed, I was just there with 2 different people right before Christmas. While 3 hours might not be a big deal, in this case with all the crap that has gone on, and depending on who wrote this letter it very well could be a big deal. My court does not like all these games, not that Kaizen has not done her share, but her ex has really pulled a lot in the past year. Her child(teen)has struggled and suffered because of the games and more games are just going to cause him problems.

As stealth2 said Kaizen does know by now to keep her posts in the same threads, instead of starting one every time she has an issue. That does not hold well for Kaizen and like I said she has done her share of wrongs in her case and this starting new threads to me is just another way to not help her case.

 

[kaizen]

Hi gam,

It's a Friend of the Court Parenting Time Judicial Service Officer (long name). I imagine you've heard of them or dealt with them. If you notice under their signature or on their card it gives the JSO title. You might even know the one I'm talking about. She has a hyphenated last name. The way my attorney explained it to me is that JSO's are referees in the making.

When I had a parenting time complaint, I went to talk to her. She told me to sign a report she'd written, and thus the letter she sent to dad.

And yeah - he ramped the game up today. Called me f*!@ing psychotic while sitting right next to son. It's hard not to let that kind of verbal bullying and abuse permeate...but that's for a different board I suppose. My tongue hurts.

 

[TigerD]

My tongue hurts.

You know, it is easier to type with your fingers.

DC

 

[gam]

Hi gam,

It's a Friend of the Court Parenting Time Judicial Service Officer (long name). I imagine you've heard of them or dealt with them. If you notice under their signature or on their card it gives the JSO title. You might even know the one I'm talking about. She has a hyphenated last name. The way my attorney explained it to me is that JSO's are referees in the making.

When I had a parenting time complaint, I went to talk to her. She told me to sign a report she'd written, and thus the letter she sent to dad.

And yeah - he ramped the game up today. Called me f*!@ing psychotic while sitting right next to son. It's hard not to let that kind of verbal bullying and abuse permeate...but that's for a different board I suppose. My tongue hurts.

Then it is not an order. It's like I said, you did a complaint, she made a decision on that complaint that you get make up time. All that can happen if he ignores it is that she then does the show cause. Now you can call her and tell her he is ignoring it and push her into the show cause. If it was something that is actually written in the order and FOC was enforcing it, that would be different and him ignoring it is different. But it was a complaint for him not following the order, she made a decision based on your complaint and his response(if he even responded), and he has(or had depending on when this what done)x amount of time to file an objection on whatever her decision was.

No I have not see anything in written form by the Parenting time coordinator(that's what they call the person when you call up there). The ones I know don't bother going through FOC for complaints because it is just an extra step that often causes more wasted time. If the other party is not following they order, they motion the court directly and skip FOC. Everyone that I know is the CP, none have court ordered 50/50 time, and they have gotten nowhere with the Parenting Time Coordinator as she has answered questions but anything more then that, she tells them she is there for the NCP and to contact their FOC caseworker or file directly with the court. If they file a complaint through their caseworker it's just an FOC worker that handles it, rarely is it their caseworker, never has it been the Parenting time coordinator. It's signed with the title of FOC investigator.

Has David Elias(spelling might be wrong but I can get it for you)ever heard anything in your case or sat in on a hearing? He is the head Ref, often sits in on cases that are like yours. He has for some reason spent lots of time in the past year sitting in on Judge George's case. Might be wise to see if you can get him involved, he's a really good guy.

 

[kaizen]

So I sucked it up and let it go with the three hour matter. But this time, I'm not sucking it up. My question is how to proceed. The last time I went to the JSO to discuss the parenting time issues (I'd been there six weeks prior - that was the beginning of our conversation on the matter. It kept happening, so I went back again), in conversation I told her my son was being charged with a MIP. That's when she seemed to flip. She asked me why I didn't tell her about the MIP in our last conversation! I got nervous, and I said I didn't tell her about it because we were discussing parenting time, not my son's MIP. Then I took a breath and realized something else. I told her at the time of our last conversation, son had not yet been charged with MIP, so that's also why I didn't tell her.

I think she might have wondered which explanation was the real one, and gotten upset with me (just guessing here). They were in fact both right (son had had incident before my first visit to her, but had not yet been charged). At that point she seemed to flip, and told me I had bigger things to worry about than parenting time and then said "I better not see you in front of me again!"


Our consent order says "Parties agree that defendant to have the first weekend of each month. Plaintiff to have next three weekends." Friday was the first weekend of this month. Dad picked son up. Our district's website says this about mid-winter break: February 14, 2014 Mid-Winter Break begins at end of day. February 24, 2014 Classes Resume. Dad has also told me he intends to pick son up for weekend of Feb 21, 22, 23. This year is my year to have mid-winter break.

The friend of the court website says "the Friend of the Court is obligated to continue enforcing the existing parenting time order until it is changed."

My question is about the JSO who told me I'd better not be seen in front of her again. She can't tell me that, can she? With Dad having taken son this weekend, I will seek relief. I can go to her again, can't I?

 

[CJane]

Of course you can. But clearly, you're getting nowhere with the FOC. Might be time to escalate the issue. Again.

 

[gam]

The parenting time coordinator(JSO as you call her)while part of FOC is there strictly to help prevent issues. It's not how you get things done by constantly contacting them, it's not even the proper way to do this.

You have 2 choices when you have a complaint, you can send FOC a complaint letter(it must be in writing), asking them to investigate. Or you can file directly with the circuit court a show cause motion(if he fails to follow the order).

I suppose when you write that complaint that the JSO is the could be the one who investigates, but I have yet to see that happen in the many cases in this court, someone else from FOC does the investigating. They usually contact both parties as to the complaint and then make a decision. That decision is then sent to both parties where you can object to it. Sometimes they will just not bother contacting the parties and schedule a hearing and listen to both sides and then make a decision. They will then write that recommendation up and try and get you both to sign it, signing takes away your right to object. If you don't sign it you can object, if neither party objects in the time frame(time frame is very short in this court), then it will be sent to the Judge who will sign it as an order.

You should know this all by now, stop doing this the wrong way and start doing it the way the court requires. It gives you a paper trail and it also gives you a chance to object and get this in front of the Judge.

My personal opinion is to always skip FOC just a wasted step and they tend to do little. Better filing on your own and going before a Ref, where you can object and have a hearing very quick in front of the Judge. Your particular Judge most often sends it to FOC to investigate anyways, but once that is done then your back in front of the Judge for her to make the decision. Or her Ref because she tends to use a particular Ref and that Ref tends to get big leeway in making decisions.

I'm also going to tell you again to see if you can get the court to have the head Ref take a look at this case, that would be David Elias(sp might be wrong). This particular Judge uses him often, he is often seen in her courtroom sitting in on the really bad cases.

Last it is moms winter break this year in this county, so let dad show up, he does not get the child. It's that simple, your winter break holiday over rides his regular weekend. Let him file contempt on you for that or write a complaint, it's your holiday, he is in the wrong.

 

[kaizen]

I did go see the JSO. She is filing a show cause against dad.

I called my lawyer and am hiring me to represent me at the show cause.

gam, the problem with your last suggestion (I do always appreciate all that you say) is that I wouldn't put my son in that position. He's 16; if he were young, I could have that discussion with dad on the porch and then close the door. But once son knows dad is here (or coming - since dad tells him all his plans and even that I'm going to object, etc.), that's it. I just let him go. I wouldn't put him in the middle. But it looks like it will indeed be dealt with this time - the show cause hearing will be after that other weekend in question. And the JSO told me to respond to dad's email (and copy her on it) that he'd be coming that mid-winter break weekend, letting him know that it's mid-winter break. When she looked at dad's other emails, she pointed out that dad did not even allow for me to have any weekends in March.

I hope this time dad will get jail time, NOT contingent upon him doing something before a certain deadline. Just jail for contempt of court.

I'm so glad she didn't admonish me for being in front of her again. *BTW gam, that is what my lawyer suggested I do when this all started. He said to go see her and if she'd handle it, it'd save me hiring him. This is what the FOC site says:
Question:
The other party is violating our current parenting time order. What can I do?

Answer:
File a written complaint with the Friend of the Court. You may either send it by mail or bring it in person to the Friend of the Court to discuss your issues. If the Friend of the Court believes the parenting time order has been violated, they will start enforcement action.

Also, this question and answer:
Question:
I have an order granting me custody, but the other parent will not return the child. What should I do?

Answer:
You may contact your Friend of the Court Parenting Time Judicial Service Officer to request an order to show cause for failure to return. You may further elect to retain an order or appear on your own behalf (in pro per) to file a motion for immediate return. If your custody order is clear, you may also contact the local police department to assist you.

***

So CJane your words resonated with me last night. That's why I split the difference, letting her initiate things and then bringing my attorney in hopes to annihilate.

I realize there's no question in this answer. I just wanted to clarify in case someone else read this for information.

Thank you all.

 

[gam]

I did go see the JSO. She is filing a show cause against dad.

You came and said the JSO told you "she better not see you in front of her again". So you ran on down there since yesterday? Why on earth would you go back to her?

I called my lawyer and am hiring me to represent me at the show cause

Should at this point be paying him every time.

gam, the problem with your last suggestion (I do always appreciate all that you say) is that I wouldn't put my son in that position. He's 16; if he were young, I could have that discussion with dad on the porch and then close the door. But once son knows dad is here (or coming - since dad tells him all his plans and even that I'm going to object, etc.), that's it. I just let him go. I wouldn't put him in the middle. But it looks like it will indeed be dealt with this time - the show cause hearing will be after that other weekend in question. And the JSO told me to respond to dad's email (and copy her on it) that he'd be coming that mid-winter break weekend, letting him know that it's mid-winter break. When she looked at dad's other emails, she pointed out that dad did not even allow for me to have any weekends in March.

I know how old your son is, and this is why he pulls the crap he does and this is why dad gets away with pulling the crap he does and getting in your kids head. Because of instead of standing up to dad and standing up to son and sticking to the darn order you let them both get their way. Not teaching your kid a darn thing by doing this. At 16 and the mess your case is, not like your son has not been dragged in enough. What did that ever so helpful JSO gal tell you to do when dad ignores the email and shows up?

Your kid was drug in this long ago, he has been in the middle for some time, and your worried about dragging him by telling dad not your time, it's my holiday week and that over rides your weekend? SMH at the logic here, and then you wonder why your kid is acting out, physically attacking you and being swayed by dad.

I hope this time dad will get jail time, NOT contingent upon him doing something before a certain deadline. Just jail for contempt of court.

I'm so glad she didn't admonish me for being in front of her again. *BTW gam, that is what my lawyer suggested I do when this all started. He said to go see her and if she'd handle it, it'd save me hiring him. This is what the FOC site says:
Question:
The other party is violating our current parenting time order. What can I do?

Answer:
File a written complaint with the Friend of the Court. You may either send it by mail or bring it in person to the Friend of the Court to discuss your issues. If the Friend of the Court believes the parenting time order has been violated, they will start enforcement action.

But you didn't do what this says, you went to the JSO, that's not filing a written complaint with the FOC, while the JSO is part of the FOC, there is more there and your getting nowhere with her handling this. Write the complaint letter, mail it on into FOC and see who you get, it won't be this JSO gal.

Also, this question and answer:
Question:
I have an order granting me custody, but the other parent will not return the child. What should I do?

Answer:
You may contact your Friend of the Court Parenting Time Judicial Service Officer to request an order to show cause for failure to return. You may further elect to retain an order or appear on your own behalf (in pro per) to file a motion for immediate return. If your custody order is clear, you may also contact the local police department to assist you.

You see here where it also says you may further elect to retain an order or appear on your own behalf to file a motion for immediate return. You didn't do that and you went to the JSO, where did that get you? I personally would have stopped screwing around long ago with anyone connected to the FOC, that includes this great JSO gal, cause not one of them have done much here. File directly with the court so the court keeps hearing the issues everytime, not some FOC worker who writes it on up and sticks it in your FOC file, never shows up in the court file that way. All these issues that the Judge is not seeing and not having right in front of her face in the court file.
***

So CJane your words resonated with me last night. That's why I split the difference, letting her initiate things and then bringing my attorney in hopes to annihilate.

I realize there's no question in this answer. I just wanted to clarify in case someone else read this for information.

Thank you all

.
Wanting to clarify this to in case someone else is reading why on earth did you go to the JSO gal? For others in Mi reading, at this point in your case, when the JSO gal or any other FOC worker is not doing anything or telling you "they better not see you in front of them again", it's time to skip them completely and move on to the Circuit court, file yourself and if you can't handle going into court by yourself then by all means get a lawyer. If you need that lawyer, then have the lawyer file directly with the court. If they tell you to go through FOC and save yourself some money, then find another lawyer that gets you have gone through FOC numerous times and the crap continues, dad gets hand slaps, little goes in front of the Judge, little ends up in the court file, most goes into the FOC file.

I will also tell you once again, request from the Judge to have David Elias brought into the case. Your lawyer should have already suggested this to begin with, since he is all into saving you money, specially since your case is in front of the Judge it's in front of.