Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Presiding judge asks Maricopa County for evaluators and facilitators as 81% of family litigants proceed without lawyers
Summary
Presiding Judge Pam Gates told the Board of Supervisors that 81% (about 57,000) of family-court litigants file without legal representation and requested six positions (two facilitators, two licensed evaluators, and a licensed director) to provide neutral evaluations and courtroom support for high‑risk cases.
Presiding Judge Pam Gates asked the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to fund six Judicial Branch positions to help self‑represented family‑court litigants and to improve court decisionmaking. Gates told the board that “81% or 57,000 of our family court litigants navigate a very complex area of law without legal representation,” and said many of those people are domestic‑violence victims or caretakers seeking protection for their children.
Gates said the Judicial Branch is seeking two litigation‑service facilitators to reduce repeated technical pleading rejections and to assist litigants with filing; two licensed…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
