The El Paso County Domestic Relations Office may enforce court orders for parenting time (Access and Possession) through the “Friend of the Court” program. As a “Friend of the Court,” the DRO does
represent the applicant or the respondent, it represents the interest of the court.
Each party to the case has the right to hire an attorney to represent him or her in any court action that may be taken by the DRO.
The DRO reserves the right to
accept or deny the enforcement of any case.
To apply for services through the Friend of the Court program, the following criteria must be met:
1) The order to be enforced was issued by an El Paso County Court, or was transferred to El Paso if it was originally issued by a Court outside of El Paso.
2) There is no pending litigation.
3) There is no open Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation.
4) There is no active Protective Order in place.
5) A FINAL access and possession order is in place (included in: divorce decrees, modification orders, paternity
decrees and orders establishing the parent-child relationship, but
not temporary orders).
6) A copy of the most recent court order must be attached to this application (one can be obtained from the District Clerk, Rm 103 El Paso County Courthouse, 500 E. San Antonio, El Paso, Texas 79901).
7)
Three (3) alleged violations of the parenting schedule within the previous
ninety (90) days, with supporting
documentation in the form of police reports or witness statements included with the application (if available).
8) The applicant
MUST:
a. be following the possession schedule as ordered by the court and continue to follow it after submission of
this application.
b. attend a court-order orientation prior to submittal of application.
https://epcounty.com/dro/familycourt.htm c. agree to participate in all activities recommended by the El Paso County DRO staff.
If warranted, referral to Cooperative Parenting Class, supervised exchanges or visitation may be recommended.
Every reasonable effort will be made to resolve the parenting time dispute without court action.
The DRO reserves the right to make the ultimate determination as to the filing of litigation to enforce access and possession orders. 