Sharing Parents the Best Answer

The North Dakota Legislature held a meeting March 16 to hear issues relating to the child custody study.

The study committee was given a directive by the Legislative Council to only study other states' custody practices. This is not the directive passed by the Legislature, stating that the study was to cover custody, visitation and child support problems in the state of North Dakota.

Family Court Justice Committee Says Wait Times Still Most Pressing Issue

Family court judges could be contributing to the system backlog by not listening to testimony, or reading documents filed with the court, resulting in further delays, a new report by the Family Court Justice Committee suggests.

The six-member committee, comprised of lawyers, family counselors and single mothers, also worries decisions are not being based on all of the facts.

It recommends the province's family court judges be subjected to reviews by an independent judicial commission to ensure the rights of children are protected, due process is adhered to, and that no gender or other biases are present.

Court Staff Overwhelmed in YFZ Child Custody Cases

A task force of volunteer lawyers traveled to San Angelo to assist in the YFZ Ranch child protection cases, the Texas Supreme Court press office reported April 18.

The volunteers were in San Angelo for an April 17 custody hearing concerning the 416 children taken from YFZ Ranch, a polygamist settlement owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The church is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon Church.

In early April, state agencies entered the ranch near Eldorado in Schleicher County and took the children into custody after an anonymous caller said she had been beaten and sexually abused at the site.