Rule Text
A. At any time the court may order the referral for mediation in any proceeding authorized by this Code, except domestic abuse assistance proceedings brought pursuant to Chapter 8, Title XV.
B. The referral order shall recite that while the parties must attend a scheduled mediation session and must attempt to mediate in good faith, they are not required to reach an agreement.
Amendment history: Acts 1999, No. 894, §1; Acts 2007, No. 396, §1; Acts 2017, No. 359, §§1, 4, special eff. date.
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
A judge can send most types of juvenile or family court cases to mediation at any point during the case. Mediation is a process where a neutral person helps the people involved try to work out their disagreements outside of a courtroom trial. This option is not available in domestic abuse cases.
If the judge orders mediation, everyone involved has to show up to the mediation session and make a real effort to work things out. However, no one is forced to actually reach a deal. If the sides can't agree, the case simply goes back to court to be decided the normal way.