23-1003. Case manager; duties; withdrawal; reassignment; recommendations.
23-1003
23-1003. Case manager; duties; withdrawal;reassignment;recommendations.(a) A case manager appointed under K.S.A.23-1002, and amendmentsthereto, shall:
(1) Meet with the parties, and other individuals deemed appropriate;
(2) gather information necessary to assist the parties in reaching anagreement or making recommendations, including medical, psychological,education and court records, including child custody investigations and childcustody psychological evaluations, of the parties and children;
(3) report to the court as directed by court order;
(4) keep a record by date and topic of all contacts with the parties in thecase. When requested, this record shall be made available to the court intotal or summary form without the express consent of the parties and shall notbe considered a medical or psychological record for purposes ofconfidentiality;
(5) notify the court when a party fails to meet the financial obligations ofthe case management process;
(6) file for collection of costs as necessary. The court shall assist insuch filing or collection efforts, or both;
(7) be authorized by the court to report threats, imminent danger, suspectedchild abuse, fear of abduction and suspected or actual harm to any party orchildinvolved in case management either directly to the court and to otherauthorities, or both. Such action shall be followed by a written summarywithin five business days of the initial filing of such report which shall besent to the judge or the judge's designee and included in the court file; and
(8) directly contact the court with any other information the case managerdetermines that the court should know.
(b) A case manager appointed under K.S.A.23-1002, and amendmentsthereto, maywithdraw at any time following the initial order. Sufficient reasons forwithdrawal may include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Loss of neutrality which prevents objectivity;
(2) nonpayment by a party;
(3) lack of cooperation by a party;
(4) threat to a party;
(5) retirement or case load reduction by a case manager; or
(6) any other reason which shall be stated to the court in writing andconsidered adequate and sufficient reason by the court.
(c) A disputant party may request reassignment of a case manager by filinga motion with the court. The court shall consider such requests upon review.Repeated requests may raise a presumption of lack of parental cooperation andthe court may consider sanctions against the uncooperative parent or parents.
(d) (1) If parties have been ordered by the court to attempt to settlethe party's disputes with the assistance of a case manager, and are unable tosettle such disputes, the parties are to follow the recommendation orrecommendations of the case manager as ordered by the court.
(2) When a case manager is forced to make recommendations for the parties,such recommendations shall be noted in writing as soon as possible and may beaccompanied by supporting information. Such recommendation shall be reportedto the court with copies to the attorneys of record for each party within 10working days.
(3) Agreements of the parties and recommendations of the case manager whichmay concern temporary arrangements need not be entered into the court record bytheattorneys of record.
(4) Case managers shall be furnished a form for orders to recommend suchagreements to the court for the court's final order.
(5) Permanent issues such as designation of custody, primary residence orchild support which are recommended by the case manager shall be entered intothe court record within 10working days of receipt of the recommendation. Should there be differingopinions as to the language of the journal entry, the case manager shall reviewthe proposed journal entry and may recommend appropriate language to the court.
(6) If a disputant party disagrees with a recommendation such party may filea motion before the court for a review at which time an order shall be made bythe court. The case manager shall explain to the court either by report ortestimony the reasons for such recommendation or recommendations.
(7) Costs of the procedure and professional time maybe assessed to the party who objected to therecommendations in the journal entry or may be otherwise assessed by the court.
History: L. 1996, ch. 159, § 3; July 1.