PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH YOUR REPORT

Purpose:

To provide citizens of Merced County the opportunity to report the willful disobedience of a court order.

Information:

This self-reporting format is suggested if there has been willful disobedience of a court order. This report can be made and placed within the Records Division of the Merced County Sheriff’s Office and held for “information purposes” or can be forwarded to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution at their discretion.

Guidelines:

The Merced County District Attorney’s Office has the responsibility of determining which reports will or will not be prosecuted. Due to the volume of reports received by this agency and the sensitive nature of willful disobedience of court orders, this self-reporting format has been adopted. If you live in the county and wish to make a report of willful disobedience of a Court Order, you must complete the attached report form, attach a copy of the most current court order, and return it to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office. The attached REPORT EXPLANATIONS will assist you in completing this report.

Instructions:

You do not have to complete this report at the Merced County Sheriff’s Office. It is acceptable to complete the report at home and return it in person to the Merced County Sheriff’s Department or nearest Sub-Station. It is important that the report be completed as neatly and as thoroughly as possible, using blue or black ink only.

Report Header: 

At the top left corner of the form there are four boxes labeled “Case No”, “Deputy”, “Report Area (Beat)”, and “Date & Time Reported”. These boxes will be filled by the person receiving the report at the Sheriff’s Office. The following is a list of boxes in the header you are required to fill:

• Request Prosecution: If you would like this report to be filed with the District Attorney’s Office for review and consideration for criminal prosecution, you should check this box.
• Report Only: If you would like for the report to be maintained for documentation purposes only, you should check the “Report Only” box.
• Date and Time Occurred-Day: This area shall be filled with the date and time in which this violation occurred. For example, if the Court Order requires the exchange of custody to occur at a specific time of a particular day, enter that date and time in this box.
• Location: This area should be filled with the address or name of the location where the violation occurred. For example, if the Court has ordered the exchange of children to occur at your residence, then you should enter that address in this box.
• Person Section: There are three person sections on this report; Reporting Party, Suspect and Witness.
• Reporting Party: The first section has been pre-designated as the “Reporting Party” section and should be filled with the Reporting Party’s personal information. If you are writing this report, you are considered the Reporting Party.
• Suspect: The second section has been pre-designated as the “Suspect” section and should be filled with as much of the suspect’s information as possible. The suspect is the person who willfully violated the Court Order.
• Witness: The third section has been pre-designated as the “Witness” section and should be filled with as much of the witness’ information as possible. A witness is a person who personally witnessed the violation taking place, or has some valuable information pertaining to the violation.
• Child Information: If the violation is of a child custody order, please list the names and dates of birth of each child listed on that order.
• Court Order Information: Please provide the Court Order number, name of the issuing Judge, name of the Mediator, name of the issuing Court, and the date the order was issued. In addition, please attach a copy of the most resent order to this report.
• Violation(s): Select the option(s) which is most applicable and check the box or boxes that apply. If none of these options accurately describe the violation(s) briefly provide the details of the violation(s) in the narrative section.
• Narrative: Briefly provide details of the incident when the court order was violated. Be sure to include the location or locations involved, the date(s) and time(s), and the specific facts which show the willful disobedience of the court order. In addition, any statement made by the suspect or observations made by a witness will assist in investigating your case.
• Prepared By: The person making the report, the reporting party, will be required to print his/her name, sign and date this section. Do not fill in the area titled “Approved by”.

NOTE: A copy of your most current Court Order must be attached to this report. It is recommended that you make a copy of this report for your records prior to returning it to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office. Maintain notes regarding issues and contacts made regarding your Court Order. Record minor violation. Date them and keep them for later use either in court or for a later report you may need to initiate.