Rule 3.926.Transfer of Jurisdiction; Change of Venue

MCR 3.926 sorts out which county hears a juvenile case. It begins by defining a phrase used in MCL 712A.2, then supplies a transfer mechanism, a residence test, a cost rule, and a change of venue provision.

Where the case may begin

Subrule (A) reads the phrase found within the county broadly. A child is found within the county in which the offense against the child occurred, in which the offense committed by the juvenile occurred, or in which the minor is physically present. More than one county can qualify, which is why the rest of the rule deals with moving the case.

Transfer to the county of residence

Subrule (B) lets a court hearing a case involving a minor who lives elsewhere request transfer to the court in the county of residence before trial. The request is not self-executing. The transferring court may not order transfer until the receiving court has granted the request to accept it.

Residence itself gets a two-step test. Under subrule (B)(1), a presumption applies where both parents live in the same county, or where the child lives in the county with a parent awarded legal custody, a guardian, a legal custodian, or the child's sole legal parent. Otherwise subrule (B)(2) supplies factors:

• the county of residence of the parent or parents, guardian, or legal custodian;
• whether the child has ever lived in the county, and for how long;
• whether either parent has moved to another county since the case began;
• whether the child is subject to the prior continuing jurisdiction of another court;
• whether a court has entered an order placing the child in the county for adoption;
• whether the child has expressed an intention to reside in the county; and
• any other factor the court considers relevant.

Subrule (B)(3) closes a loop that would otherwise let placement drive residence: a child placed in a county by court order or by a public or private agency is not a resident of that county, unless the placement was for the purpose of adoption.

Costs, venue, and bifurcation

Subrule (C) puts the cost of a disposition on the court that orders it when that court sits outside the county of residence, with two exceptions: the county of residence agrees to pay, or the minor is made a state ward under the Youth Rehabilitation Services Act, MCL 803.301 et seq., and the county of residence withholds consent to a transfer.

Subrule (D) is the change of venue provision. On a party's motion the court may order a case heard in another county for the convenience of the parties and witnesses, provided a judge of the other court agrees to hear it, or when an impartial trial cannot be had where the case is pending. The court ordering the change bears all costs of the proceeding in the other county.

Subrule (E) allows a bifurcated case where both judges agree, with adjudication in the transferring court and disposition in the receiving court. Subrule (F) assigns the transferring court the orders needed to certify and transfer the action, and the clerk the task of preparing and sending the records by a secure method.

Designated cases

Subrule (G) treats designated cases differently. They are filed in the county where the offense is alleged to have occurred and, apart from a change of venue for trial, may not be transferred elsewhere. After conviction a designated case may move to the juvenile's county of residence for entry of a juvenile disposition only, and sentencing, including delayed imposition of sentence, may occur only in the county where the offense occurred.