On November 19, 2020 Tioga County announced that all future fact-finding hearings will be held virtually via the Microsoft TEAMS meeting platform effective Monday, November 23, 2020 until further notice. Any other appearances or conferences which are scheduled for in-person appearances at the Courthouse will also be held virtually via Microsoft TEAMS Meeting.
There will be no in-person appearances at the Courthouse.
The Court also issued a protocol for fact-finding hearings regarding witnesses, exhibits, phone and video appearances.
Witnesses: Witness lists including email addresses for each witness must be provided to the Court 48 hours prior to the hearing; witnesses must appear by video; a party may appear by phone, only if they are not testifying; Witnesses will be kept in the virtual lobby of TEAMS prior to their testimony; if a witness or party cannot appear via teams they should appear with the attorney.
Exhibits: All exhibits must be marked and provided to the Court, and all counsel, 24 hours prior to the hearing; Exhibits may be emailed to the Court at TiogaFamilyCourt@nycourts.gov.; The Court will not be providing exhibits to counsel. All documents must be in PDF format, and cannot be submitted via disk, thumb drive, CD, etc., if exhibits are not received in advance the matter may be dismissed or the Court may proceed without receipt of the exhibits into evidence.
The Court clarified that the procedures announced on the 19th ONLY apply to matters before the Tioga County Family Court Judges, not Support Magistrate Testa Ciccone. SM Testa Ciccone has a separate, pre-existing, set of procedures for virtual proceedings which will continue to be utilized.
