2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 4 - Judiciary › Chapter 1 - Supreme Court › § 33. Jurisdiction; Family Division

§ 33. Jurisdiction; Family Division
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the Family Division shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and dispose of the following proceedings filed or pending on or after October 1, 1990:
(1) All desertion and support proceedings and all parentage actions filed pursuant to 15 V.S.A. chapter 5.
(2) All rights of married women proceedings filed pursuant to 15 V.S.A. chapter 3.
(3) All enforcement of support proceedings filed pursuant to Title 15B.
(4) All annulment and divorce proceedings filed pursuant to 15 V.S.A. chapter 11.
(5) All parent and child proceedings filed pursuant to 15 V.S.A. chapter 15.
(6) Grandparents’ visitation proceedings filed pursuant to 15 V.S.A. chapter 18.
(7) All uniform child custody proceedings filed pursuant to 15 V.S.A. chapter 20.
(8) All juvenile proceedings filed pursuant to 33 V.S.A. chapters 51, 52, and 53, including proceedings involving “youthful offenders” pursuant to 33 V.S.A. § 5281 whether the matter originated in the Criminal or Family Division of the Superior Court, except for a proceeding charging the holder of a commercial driver’s license as defined in 23 V.S.A. § 4103 with an offense or violation listed in 23 V.S.A. § 4116 that would result in the license holder being disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle if convicted.
(9) All enforcement of support proceedings filed pursuant to 33 V.S.A. chapter 39.
(10) All guardianship services proceedings for persons with developmental disabilities filed pursuant to 18 V.S.A. chapter 215.
(11) All mental health proceedings filed pursuant to 18 V.S.A. chapters 179, 181, and 185.
(12) All involuntary sterilization proceedings filed pursuant to 18 V.S.A. chapter 204.
(13) All care for persons with intellectual disabilities proceedings filed pursuant to 18 V.S.A. chapter 206.
(14) All abuse prevention proceedings filed pursuant to 15 V.S.A. chapter 21. Any Superior judge may issue orders for emergency relief pursuant to 15 V.S.A. § 1104.
(15) All abuse and exploitation proceedings filed pursuant to 33 V.S.A. chapter 69, subchapter 2.
(16) All proceedings relating to the dissolution of a civil union.
(17) All requests to modify or enforce orders previously issued by the District or Superior Court relating to any of the proceedings identified in subdivisions (1)-(16) of this subsection.
(18) Concurrent with the Probate Division, special immigration judicial determinations regarding the custody and care of children within the meaning of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J) and 8 C.F.R. § 204.11) issued pursuant to 14 V.S.A. chapter 111, subchapter 14.
(b) The Family Division has jurisdiction to hear and dispose of proceedings involving misdemeanor motor vehicle offenses filed or pending on or after July 1, 2016, pursuant to 33 V.S.A. §§ 5201, 5203, and 5280. The Family Division of the Superior Court shall forward a record of any conviction for violation of a law related to motor vehicle traffic control, other than a parking violation, to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles pursuant to 23 V.S.A. § 1709. (Added 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 7d; amended 2011, No. 29, § 2; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 11; 2015, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 19; 2019, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 27, eff. Oct. 7, 2020; 2021, No. 65, § 13, eff. June 7, 2021.)