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An amended order of the Presiding Judge (Michael J. McLaughlin) dated August 20, 2026, superseding the Administrative Order filed on June 11, 2026: effective June 15, 2026, Local Rules 8.10.01, 8.10.02, and 8.10.06 are amended - all contested child custody and visitation matters referred to Child Custody Recommending Counseling (CCRC) by order of the Court pursuant to Family Code section 3175, no new CCRC session absent further order of the Court if a CCRC report was issued within the preceding six (6) months of the filing of a request for order (8.10.01); for all CCRC referral orders issued on or after June 15, 2026, all CCRC appointments conducted remotely, each party participating from a private setting, no person other than the parties and individuals authorized by the Recommending Counselor present, any video recording, audio recording, photographing, taking screenshots and/or reproducing of the CCRC appointment strictly prohibited and subject to penalties for contempt of court; the referral order specifying the date and time of the appointment and the deadlines for service, registration, completion of orientation, and submission of required documentation; the requesting party serving the referral order and the CCRC Questionnaire; registration no earlier than 14 days before the scheduled appointment and no later than 15 minutes before the appointment time; a failure to submit required documents to the Court and complete the required orientation possibly resulting in cancellation of the appointment and notification to the Court; a separate CCRC session requested at the time of the appointment; a party more than 15 minutes late considered to have failed to appear and not permitted to participate; sanctions or other orders for a failure to appear or to participate in good faith (8.10.02); the Recommending Counselor's discretion to disclose the lack of confidentiality to the minor child(ren), children not present at the CCRC appointment unless ordered by the Court, sibling interviews jointly or separately, and any interview of a minor child conducted in person by the Recommending Counselor unless otherwise ordered by the Court (8.10.06).
California > Third Appellate District > El Dorado County > Superior Court of California, County of El Dorado
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF EL DORADO 1354 Johnson Blvd South Lake Tahoe, CA 95667 DATE: August 20, 2026 JUDGE: Michael J. McLaughlin, Presiding Judge CLERK: Shawna Boley AMENDED ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER RE: AMENDMENT TO LOCAL RULES This Amended Administrative Order supersedes the Administrative Order filed on June 11, 2026. Effective June 15, 2026, Local Rules 8.10.01, 8.10.02, and 8.10.06 of the El Dorado Superior Court are amended as follows: 8.10.01 REFERRAL TO CHILD CUSTODY RECOMMENDING COUNSELING All contested child custody and visitation matters shall be referred to Child Custody Recommending Counseling (CCRC) by order of the Court pursuant to Family Code section 3175. If a CCRC report was issued within the preceding six (6) months of the filing of a request for order, a new CCRC session shall not be scheduled absent further order of the Court. In such cases, the parties shall appear on the scheduled hearing date for the matter. 8.10.02 CHILD CUSTODY RECOMMENDING COUNSELING SCHEDULING; SANCTIONS FOR FAILURE TO ATTEND OR LATE CANCELLATION OF APPOINTMENT Effective for all CCRC referral orders issued on or after June 15, 2026, all CCRC appointments shall be conducted remotely. Each party shall participate in the remote CCRC appointment from a private setting where the appointment cannot be overheard by, and no unauthorized person can observe or participate in the CCRC session. No person other than the parties and individuals authorized by the Child Custody Recommending Counselor (Recommending Counselor) may be present during the appointment. Any video recording, audio recording, photographing, taking screenshots and/or reproducing of the CCRC appointment is strictly prohibited. The recording, publishing, broadcasting or other copying or transmission of the CCRC appointment by video, audio, still photography or any other means is strictly prohibited and is subject to penalties for contempt of court. When the Court orders the parties to participate in CCRC, the Court shall issue a referral order specifying the date and time of the CCRC appointment and the applicable deadlines for service, registration, completion of orientation, and submission of required documentation. The requesting party shall serve the referral order, the CCRC Questionnaire, and any other documents required by the Court within the time prescribed by the referral order. Each party shall comply with all requirements set forth in the referral order, including registration for the remote CCRC appointment, completion of required orientation, and submission of the CCRC Questionnaire. Parties shall register for the remote CCRC appointment no earlier than 14 days before the scheduled appointment and no later than 15 minutes before the scheduled CCRC appointment time. Failure to submit required documents to the Court and complete the required orientation may result in cancellation of the appointment and notification to the Court. A party may request a separate CCRC session with the Recommending Counselor at the time of the CCRC appointment. The Recommending Counselor shall determine whether separate sessions are appropriate. The CCRC appointment is a court-ordered appearance. The requesting party, or the responding party who was properly served, shall be considered to have failed to appear if they are more than 15 minutes late to their scheduled appointment time or otherwise fail to appear for their scheduled appointment. Furthermore, a party appearing more than 15 minutes to their scheduled appointment shall not be permitted to participate. Failure to appear or failure to participate in good faith during the CCRC appointment may result in sanctions or other orders deemed appropriate by the Court. 8.10.06 PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN The Recommending Counselor shall have discretion to determine whether, and in what manner, to disclose the lack of confidentiality to the minor child(ren). The Recommending Counselor shall address the issue of confidentiality only upon specific inquiry by the child(ren). A. Children shall not to be present at the CCRC appointment unless ordered by the Court. The Court and/or the Recommending Counselor shall determine whether, and under what conditions, a minor child(ren) may be interviewed. B. Sibling interviews may be conducted jointly or separately at the discretion of the Recommending Counselor. C. Notwithstanding that CCRC appointments are conducted remotely, any interview of a minor child shall be conducted in person by the Recommending Counselor, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. IT IS SO ORDERED: Dated: August 20, 2026 MICHAEL J. MCLAUGHLIN Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of California
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF EL DORADO 1354 Johnson Blvd South Lake Tahoe, CA 95667 DATE: August 20, 2026 JUDGE: Michael J. McLaughlin, Presiding Judge CLERK: Shawna Boley AMENDED ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER RE: AMENDMENT TO LOCAL RULES This Amended Administrative Order supersedes the Administrative Order filed on June 11, 2026. Effective June 15, 2026, Local Rules 8.10.01, 8.10.02, and 8.10.06
Reviewer note: Transcribed 2026-10-10 (California T4 El Dorado build 2026-10-10) by eye from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-el-dorado/docs/general/20260820-amended-administrative-order-re-local-rules.pdf (610476 bytes, sha256 6f166a860d2e0ed5129db16b5a19f3a93539c1837196886147e871a36a6e4439; 2 pages; page images, no text layer): read on the page images rendered at 200 dpi (the file has no text layer); checked against machine readings never published (RapidOCR on each page): every 6-word window of the transcription looked up, and of the 2 spans the readings do not hold whole, 2 split into consecutive pieces each found in a reading (the caption, which the readings set in another order beside the seal and the filing stamp, and the signature block) (vision/check-log.txt). What the pages print besides the text - seals, filing stamps, handwritten signatures, page numbers - is not part of the text; the transcription's closing note, which describes the pages, is not published. Review note: Transcribed by eye (vision/check-log.txt). Carried as printed: “Children shall not to be present” and “a party appearing more than 15 minutes to their scheduled appointment”. The order supersedes the Administrative Order of June 11, 2026 (held).
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.