Court officials push divorce mediation

Court officials urged lawmakers Wednesday to expand a program that requires disputing couples to seek mediation before heading to divorce court.

The 3rd District Court serving Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties requires a "good attempt" at mediation to settle divorce issues before a couple can see a commissioner and eventually a judge.

But concerns about the cost of implementing that program statewide and ensuring that mediators are adequately trained concerned some lawmakers on the Judiciary Interim Committee, which took no action on the proposal.

Committee co-chairman Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, was concerned about the estimated $75,000 a year cost of expanding the program. But Richard Schwermer, assistant administrator for the Administrative Office of the Courts, said the program will save money in the long run.

If more cases are handled by mediators there would be less need to hire additional judges in the future, he said.

Kathy Elton, director of Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Office of the Courts, added that mediators weed out cases that would otherwise bog down the system.

"The public is better served because cases that really need to see a commissioner or judge see them more quickly," she said.

Rep. Susan Lawrence, R-Salt Lake, expressed concern that there is no licensing program for mediators. Schwermer and Elton agreed that if the program were expanded, the model used for custody dispute mediation, where each mediator must be registered, was preferable.

Custody dispute mediation, with a 68 percent success rate, was also recommended for expansion by Schwermer.

Confidentiality was a concern for Sen. James Evans, R-Salt Lake, who said for a judge to solve future custody disputes he or she should have access to information presented to mediators.

But Schwermer and Daniels said confidentiality is necessary for the process to be effective. If each party is hesitant to be completely honest in mediation, compromises are more difficult to reach, they said.

At least one lawmaker backed the idea. Rep. Scott Daniels, D-Salt Lake and a former judge, said he does commercial mediation, which is similar to domestic mediation.

In his experience people believe their dispute cannot be solved without a judge and see mediation as just a hoop to jump through but then walk away with a settlement, he said.

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