Proposed Changes to Court-Connected Mediator Qualification Rules

Court-Connected Mediators, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Court Staff, Mediation Trainers, and related ADR stakeholders are invited to review proposed changes to the court-connected mediator qualification rules outlined in Uniform Trial Court Rules (UTCR) Chapter 12 and to provide feedback on proposed changes through the UTCR public comment process. Please review this memo (and enclosed Frequently Asked Questions) for more information.

The proposed changes are posted at:

Uniform Trial Court Rules & Committee page, or
Notice Seeking Public Comment on Proposed Uniform Trial Court Rules Changes for 2025 (the chapter 12 proposals begin on page 49).

Written comments can be submitted by three methods:

Click on the button next to the proposed change in the Request for Public Comment document.
Email comments to: utcr@ojd.state.or.us.
Mail them to the UTCR Reporter at the Office of the State Court Administrator, Supreme Court Building, 1163 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301-2563.

The public comment period closes at 5:00 p.m. on February 18, 2025.

The following supplementary resources provide additional context, information, and background for the proposed changes:

The attached memo (and enclosed Frequently Asked Questions).
See Chart 1: UTCR Chapter 12 Proposed Amendments and Reasoning.
This chart compares the existing rule, the proposed rule, and the Advisory Committee’s reasoning for proposed substantive changes.
See Chart 2: Proposed UTCR Chapter 12 Court-Connected Mediator Qualifications by Case Type. This chart compares the proposed qualification requirements by mediator type.
See Chart 3: Proposed Court-Connected Mediation Training Requirements. This chart outlines the underlying requirements for each of the four court-connected mediation trainings.
See the three pending draft State Court Administrator Guidelines relating to Oregon Judicial Department Court-Connected Mediator Qualification Rules Training Curriculums:

See Flowchart 1: Pathways for fulfilling mediator experience qualification to become a court-connected domestic relations mediator. This flowchart outlines the three mediator experience pathways for Domestic Relations Custody and Parenting Plan Mediators and Financial Issues Mediators.