Judges will follow rules for interviewing children in court cases

A judicial officer may interview a child in a covered case. Covered cases include civil cases about a child’s custody, parenting time, adoption, guardianship, or other custodial matters, and proceedings under the federal child abduction law. The act excludes interviews under the Oklahoma Children’s Code or Juvenile Code, testimony by a child, and interviews by someone other than a judicial officer. Other law must allow the interview, and the officer must find it is in the child’s best interest. The officer must consider whether the child wants to communicate and, when applicable and readily known, other listed factors.

The judicial officer must follow rules for holding the interview and handling its record. A judicial officer who conducts an interview must have training in interviewing children under state judicial standards. The officer must make an interview record; other law governs access for the child, the child’s attorney, and the guardian ad litem. The officer chooses which proposed questions to ask, and must explain the interview to the child in an age-appropriate way, including whether anyone is listening live and whether parties will get the record. The child’s attorney and guardian ad litem may attend; parties and their lawyers may not. All parties may waive access to the record only in a stipulation approved by the officer. Unless the stipulation says otherwise, it also blocks party access in a later covered case, including an appeal. If the child makes a contested or possibly contested factual claim, other than the child’s views, that could decide the case, the officer must share it with the parties and let them respond before the final decision, unless an approved waiver bars this.

The act applies to covered interviews requested or started on or after November 1, 2026. This date applies to judicial interviews covered by the act. The act takes effect November 1, 2026. Its rules apply to interviews requested or started on or after that date.