Rule 1185. Appointment to Cases

A. Appointment . If necessary to assist the juvenile court judge, the president judge or his or her designee may appoint juvenile court hearing officers to hear designated dependency matters.

B. Prohibited practice . Juvenile court hearing officers shall not engage in practice before the juvenile court in the same judicial district where they preside over dependency matters.

Comment

Under paragraph (A), the president judge of each judicial district may restrict the classes of cases to be heard by the juvenile court hearing officer, in addition to the restrictions of Rule 1187. See 42 Pa.C.S. § 6305(b) and Rule 1187.

Official Note

Rule 1185 adopted August 21, 2006, effective February 1, 2007. Amended April 6, 2017, effective September 1, 2017.

Committee Explanatory Reports:

Final Report explaining the provisions of Rule 1185 published with the Court’s Order at 36 Pa.B. 5571 (September 2, 2006).

Final Report explaining the amendments to Rule 1185 published with the Court’s Order at 47 Pa.B. 2313 (April 22, 2017).