Presiding judge asks Maricopa County for evaluators and facilitators as 81% of family litigants proceed without lawyers

Presiding Judge Pam Gates asked the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to fund six Judicial Branch positions to help self‑represented family‑court litigants and to improve court decisionmaking. Gates told the board that “81% or 57,000 of our family court litigants navigate a very complex area of law without legal representation,” and said many of those people are domestic‑violence victims or caretakers seeking protection for their children.

Gates said the Judicial Branch is seeking two litigation‑service facilitators to reduce repeated technical pleading rejections and to assist litigants with filing; two licensed evaluators and a licensed director of conciliation services to provide neutral, court‑ordered assessments in complex parenting and mental‑health cases; and a senior law researcher to speed case management and consistent rulings. She described outside forensic or comprehensive evaluations as cost‑prohibitive for many individuals, estimating typical private evaluations can range “about $30,000 to $50,000.”

The request aims to give judges better evidence in modification and initial‑order proceedings when parties lack documentary support. Gates said the evaluators would produce neutral written reports shared with both parties in advance of hearings so either side could respond. Supervisors pressed for details on capacity and neutrality; Gates said the branch already uses 13 evaluators but needs a higher‑credentialed subset to handle the most complex and potentially dangerous matters.

Gates also outlined a staffing solution to resume virtual mental‑health hearings previously piloted in 2023: by increasing pay for a small subset of paid pro tems who staff night shifts at the countyinitial‑appearance court, the branch could convert two commissioners to full‑time daytime positions to handle expedited family and mental‑health dockets without adding a full judicial officer.

The Judicial Branch additionally requested capital funds for targeted security upgrades at court entry points (ballistic film, glass‑break sensors and badge reader automation) and asked the board to review vacancy‑savings assumptions for overtime funding. Gates identified deferred maintenance and future facility needs in juvenile detention and the northwest court as emerging issues the branch will return to discuss.

No formal vote on funding was taken at the hearing; Gates said the branch would work with county budget staff to provide cost estimates and collaborate on a vacancy‑rate review as a next step.