PART III. CHILD CUSTODY

SUBPART A. EVALUATION AND MEDIATION

§331. Custody or visitation proceeding; court-ordered mental health evaluation

            A. The court may order a mental health evaluation of a party or the child in a custody or visitation proceeding for good cause shown. The mental health evaluation shall be made by a licensed mental health professional selected by the parties or by the court. The court may render judgment for the costs of the mental health evaluation, or any part thereof, against any party or parties as the court may consider equitable, taking into consideration the parties' ability to pay. The court may also preliminarily allocate costs at the outset and reserve the right to reallocate costs upon conclusion of the matter.

            B. The court may order a party or the child to submit to and cooperate in the mental health evaluation, testing, or interview by the licensed mental health professional. The licensed mental health professional shall provide the parties with a written report. The licensed mental health professional shall serve as a witness, subject to cross-examination by a party.

            C. "Licensed mental health professional" as used in this Chapter means a person who possesses at least a master's degree and who holds a current unrestricted license in counseling, social work, psychology, or marriage and family counseling.

            D. Any licensed mental health professional appointed by the court to conduct a mental health evaluation in a case where domestic abuse is an issue shall have current and demonstrable training and experience working with perpetrators and victims of domestic abuse.

            E. When a licensed mental health professional has been appointed by the court, there shall be no ex parte communication by the litigants or their attorneys with the licensed mental health professional unless authorized by law or court order or agreed to by the parties. All oral communication with the licensed mental health professional shall be by teleconference or meeting in which each party to the proceeding participates either through the party's attorney or as a self-represented litigant. All written communication or correspondence to the licensed mental health professional, along with any attachments thereto, shall be provided contemporaneously to all parties to the litigation or their attorneys of record. Communications initiated by the licensed mental health professional with a litigant for the purpose of conducting the court-ordered evaluation shall not be considered ex parte communications prohibited by this Subsection.

            F. Mental health evaluations conducted pursuant to this Section are subject to the following evidentiary restrictions:

            (1) All opinion testimony offered by a licensed mental health professional shall be subject to Code of Evidence Articles 702 and 703.

            (2) No licensed mental health professional conducting an evaluation pursuant to this Section shall undertake or perform any other role or function relative to the parties or children.

            (3) Every licensed mental health professional conducting an evaluation pursuant to this Section shall comply with all statutory and administrative licensing and ethical rules and regulations otherwise applicable to the profession.

            (4) All parties shall have the right to full pretrial discovery of the entire file of the licensed mental health professional regarding the case, including the right to depose the licensed mental health professional.

            (5) No indigent parent shall be denied the opportunity to depose, cross-examine, or otherwise challenge a court-appointed licensed mental health professional in the same manner as a nonindigent parent, and any fees and costs incurred in any such deposition shall be considered within the purview of Code of Civil Procedure Article 5185.

            (6) No evidence concerning polygraphs, voice-stress analysis, or other such physiological measures shall be admitted into evidence in any form.

            (7) All psychological testing, principles, diagnoses, and concepts utilized by a licensed mental health professional shall be limited to those which have been empirically established and generally accepted in the mental health profession as valid and reliable for the parameters and conditions purportedly tested or the issues evaluated.

            Acts 1993, No. 261, §5, eff. Jan. 1, 1994; Acts 2022, No. 614, §1; Acts 2024, No. 552, §1.