As part of the 2024 Chief’s Leadership Academy, a working group led by Judge Ryan Post identified a gap in support to district judges when reviewing parenting plans submitted to the court. Douglas County District Court, through their local court rules, has the Conciliation and Mediation Services Office that provides a review of parenting plans and Judge Post set out to evaluate possible options that could be available to district courts and achieve similar outcomes.

The option that rose to the top was a narrowly focused project in which a medium-sized district would collaborate with the Administrative Office of the Courts and Probation’s Office of Dispute Resolution (ODR) to develop and implement a Parenting Plan Review Pilot. The pilot was pitched to Judicial District 9, covering Hall and Buffalo counties. Under the direction of Presiding Judge Patrick Lee, the pilot program was initiated.

During the implementation phase, Judge Lee and the other District 9 judges worked with the ODR to develop a packet of material to be provided to litigants. The packet included the process steps for domestic relations cases involving minor children, resources for self-represented litigants, Notice of Parenting Act Compliance, and Exhibit No. 1 with general information related to the case (plaintiff and defendant contact information, name(s) of children and year of birth for each, where married, date of marriage, residency, etc.). Once the packet was finalized and an internal Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the ODR was developed, informational sessions were held in Hall and Buffalo counties.

When a parenting plan is submitted to ODR for a review, it is first recorded in Microsoft Lists to track progression of the review. Hall and Buffalo County court staff have access to Parenting Plan Review List. Next, ODR reviews the plan using a checklist to determine if required statutory components are addressed in the plan. It is important to note that the ODR does not make determinations on the content of the plan (e.g., if the proposed legal and physical custody and defined parenting time are appropriate); the judge determines if the plan meets the best interest of the child standard.

Once a plan is deemed to meet statutory requirements, the ODR will complete a Parenting Plan Disposition that is sent along with the completed checklist and the plan to the District Court Clerk and the judge’s bailiff. The submitter is also notified and provided with the same documentation.

The pilot was officially rolled out on June 1, 2025. From June 2025 through January 2026, 117 plans were reviewed. Most plans (100) were submitted by attorneys; the remaining plans (17) were submitted by a self-represented litigant. All but four cases received a disposition from the ODR. On average, a plan review takes 29 minutes.

Of the plans returned for missing components, the most common omissions included:

• Provisions to ensure regular and continuous school attendance and progress for school-age children
• Noting that a parent can make emergency decisions affecting the health or safety of child(ren) while in the physical custody of such parent.

With the success of the pilot, a proposed change to Local Court Rule 9-13 Domestic Relations Cases was submitted to the Supreme Court and approved with an effective date of February 11, 2026. Under the revised rule:

  (c)  If custody or parenting time is at issue, prior to obtaining a final hearing date, a party must either:

     (i)  Allege no parenting plan is to be offered on their behalf;

     (ii)  Allege their parenting plan has previously been reviewed by the Office of    Dispute Resolution (ODR) for Parenting Act compliance and been approved;

     (iii)  Utilize the model parenting plan made in compliance with the Parenting Act attached as Appendix 3; or

     (iv)  Submit their proposed parenting plan to ODR at nsc.odr@nejudicial.gov at least   3 weeks prior to pretrial hearing for ODR to review for Parenting Act compliance and await a successful   disposition report from ODR regarding their parenting plan.

District courts interested in exploring a parenting plan review pilot for their judicial district may contact Kelly Riley, ODR Director.