Dispute Resolution Section May 1999 Newsletter Articles

LEGISLATIVE REPORT Proposal for Pilot Project to go Statewide
by Jan Walden

House Bill 1512, sponsored by Representatives Patton, Buck, Boyer and Givens, (SB 1885, sponsored by Senators Harper, Fowler, Crowe and Henry) was introduced in the state legislature on February 22. The bill, if passed, will in effect end the “Pilot Project” now ongoing in seven judicial districts across the state. The bill amends Tenn. Code Ann. 36, Chapter 6 to require that all divorce decrees and modifications of court orders involving minor children incorporate a permanent parenting plan.
The provision for referral to mediation within 24 hours on temporary issues has been deleted. While no amendments have been filed, it is anticipated that an amendment will be filed on behalf of the Tennessee Bar Association, after the Family Law Commission recommended certain revisions at the urging of members of the Commission from Davidson County. The TBA is proposing the deletion of the provision of the bill which would require mediation prior to contested litigation when parents cannot agree on a permanent parenting plan. All parents involved in litigation concerning minor children would be required to attend a parenting education program.
The bill imposes a $30 privilege tax on marriage licenses to pay for the administration of the required mediation and education programs.
Hearings before the Children and Family Affairs Committee, chaired by Representative Carol Chumney, were held on April 21. A press conference was held on April 20.

Dispute Resolution Section Consensus of Support for
Pilot Project to Become Mandatory Statewide
Section Chair, Patricia Best Vital, after a teleconference with the executive officers and committee chairs of the Dispute Resolution Section of the Tennessee Bar Association, contacted the TBA Family Code Commission, the TBA Governing Board and participating judges in the Divorce Parenting/Mediation Pilot Project to express the unanimous support of the adoption of legislation which will convert the Divorce Parenting Education/Mediation Project, now operating in six judicial districts pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §36-6-401, et. seq., into a permanent statewide mandatory program.
In her letter, Ms. Vital stated, “We acknowledge that the program in its current pilot project form requires fine tuning and will continue to present implementation challenges in a permanent program. It is our strong consensus, however, that any such program operating on less than a mandatory, statewide basis would lack the required efficacy and consistency so critical to the success of such a program. We believe that a mandatory statewide program is the logical, natural progression and next development stage into which the pilot project should be taken. Further, we observe that studies of the pilot project reveal positive outcomes for the citizens of Tennessee.”