A) Upon the filing of a complaint for divorce, legal
separation or dissolution in which the parenting and support of minor
children are involved, the Court may direct or the parties may request that
a domestic relations investigator make an investigation of the character,
family relations, past conduct, and of the home and its surroundings where
it is proposed that the children are to live.
B) The Court may, at its discretion, order the parties
and minor children to submit to psychological evaluation. Psychological
evaluation shall be strongly considered by the Court where parenting of
minors is at issue.
C) The home investigation and report shall be made by the
Domestic Relations Investigator of the Court of Common Pleas or on his
assignment by a Juvenile Probation Officer, an Investigator of the
Columbiana County Department of Human Services or other competent person.
Such investigating officer shall be an expert witness and shall charge as
costs a reasonable fee and his (or her) necessary expenses for making such
investigation and report.
The Report shall be available to the Court at all times
and shall be made a part of the record in any trial for a divorce,
dissolution, change of parenting or other similar proceeding. The
investigation fee and expenses shall be taxed as costs in the case. Upon any
party filing a motion for a parenting investigation, they shall deposit, if
ordered by the Court, the sum of One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150) as a
deposit towards investigation fees.
D) Psychological evaluations shall be made at the cost of
the requesting party or the filing party and/or pursuant to Order of the
Court at any time, including completion of the case; deposit for
psychological investigations shall be made directly with the Counseling
Center of Columbiana County in such amount as the Court directs, presently
to be in the sum of One Hundred Thirty Dollars ($130) per person evaluated.
The report of the psychological evaluator shall be admissible as upon direct
exam for any party requesting admission.
Where parenting is a real issue in the case, the parties
are requested early on in the case to agree to a disinterested psychologist.
If neither party can agree, the Director of the Counseling Center of
Columbiana County shall name a psychologist for the evaluation. Neither
counsel nor the parties shall attempt to influence or otherwise interfere
with a neutral determination by the psychologist involved and shall not
contact the psychologist, except in reference to the type of evaluation
requested and to provide basic case information or scheduling information.
Neither counsel shall provide the psychologist with a history of the case or
any other factual matters concerning the case. Neither party shall provide a
written statement or other history to the psychologist unless requested to
do so by the psychologist.
The report of any investigator shall be made in writing
and shall be kept in the possession of the Court except that, if the case is
certified to Juvenile Court, such report shall be turned over to that Court.
Psychological reports shall not be made public, but a copy of the report for
the parties may be provided to their respective counsel upon request to the
Court. The reports may be reviewed by counsel only upon request to Court,
excepting that evaluations of the opposing party shall not be permitted to
be viewed by the individual client without specific order of the Court.
E) In all cases in which investigations are ordered a
notice may, at the request of the investigator, be mailed to each party to
appear at a designated time and place for an interview with the
investigator. A copy of such notice will be mailed to counsel for each party
and it will be the duty of each party to comply with the request for
appearance just as it would be necessary to appear for a court ordered
hearing.
F) Upon motion or order of the Court ordering a
psychological evaluation, the following procedure shall be adhered to:
1) A judgment entry shall issue at the direction of
the Court ordering such evaluation and the deposit of said monies
necessary; such judgment entry shall be submitted to the Court within
five days of any oral order;
2) A file stamped copy of the judgment entry ordering
psychological evaluation shall be forwarded to the Counseling Center of
Columbiana County or other direct designated evaluator within two (2)
days of being filed with the Clerk of Courts; an additional copy of
order shall be provided to all counsel of record who shall thereafter be
responsible for insuring that their clients have a copy of said order;
3) Within 10 days shall deposit such sum as directed
by the Court directly with the Counseling Center of Columbiana County.
Once a deposit is made the party making the deposit shall notify his
counsel who shall notify, within five days, the opposing counsel or
party that the deposit has been made.
4) Within 10 days of the deposit being made with the
Counseling Center of Columbiana County, all counsel shall insure that
their clients and their minor children will contact the Counseling
Center of Columbiana County or such other agreed upon counselor for the
purposes of making an appointment for evaluation; all appointments for
psychological evaluation to be made under this Rule shall be at the
convenience of the Counseling Center of Columbiana County or such other
private counselor as the parties agree and shall be completed as soon as
possible;
5) In any case where psychological evaluations have
been completed, the Court may not approve any final judgment entry,
except upon proof of payment of the evaluation fees in full; the Court
may take other appropriate action by way of sanctions or use of its
contempt powers.