With the appointment of Judge Renatha Francis to the Supreme Court, immediate action is necessary to cover Family Division FC. To facilitate coverage, the phased closing of Family Division FD will be accelerated as follows:

• Family Division FD will be closed immediately and the Clerk will reassign FD cases to the remaining family divisions based on AO 5.101-06/2022. Reassignment of all cases should be complete by August 31, 2022.
• Final hearings already set in Division FD are not cancelled and will be heard at their scheduled date and time unless otherwise notified. Any non-final hearing scheduled in Division FD after August 31 will need to be rescheduled in the newly assigned division.
• Efforts will be made to use senior judges or volunteers to obtain coverage for matters set in Division FD from August 15 to August 31. However, it may be necessary to cancel some hearings in Division FD through August 31.
• Hearings can no longer be set in Division FD and must be set in the newly assigned division.
• Effective Monday, August 15, 2022, Judge Ashley Zuckerman will be assigned to Family Division FC.  All hearings and matters scheduled in Division FC will remain set as scheduled.
  

Efforts are being made to minimize the disruption of services in cases presently assigned to Division FD, but scheduling delays are unavoidable until all cases have been reassigned to the remaining family divisions. Coverage issues are complicated by the lack of available senior judges to cover family law matters. Your patience is appreciated as the Circuit deals with this transition.