Short answer. You can ask the court to intervene. Section 8 makes it the commissioner's duty to proceed with all reasonable diligence, and either party — on notice to the parties and the commissioner — may apply to the court for an order requiring the commissioner to expedite the proceedings and make the report.
What the law says
It is the duty of the commissioner to proceed with all reasonable diligence. Either party, on notice to the parties and commissioner, may apply to the court for an order requiring the commissioner to expedite the proceedings and to make his or her report.
Rule 32, Section 8 — Commissioner shall avoid delays. Read the full provision →
The commissioner's diligence duty
Section 8 states plainly that it is the duty of the commissioner to proceed with all reasonable diligence in handling whatever issues the court referred for investigation. That framing matters: delay in completing a reference is treated as a departure from what the Rule expects of the commissioner, not simply an unfortunate but unavoidable byproduct of the reference process. A commissioner who lets a reference sit without progress is failing an obligation the Rule itself imposes, giving the parties a basis to seek court intervention rather than only informal complaint. The diligence duty binds the commissioner, not the parties themselves; a party is not required to prod the commissioner informally before seeking court relief, and delay caused by the parties' own conduct, such as repeated postponements they requested, is not the kind of failure this duty addresses.
The remedy available to either party
If the commissioner is dragging things out, either party may apply to the court for an order requiring the commissioner to expedite the proceedings and to make his or her report. That application must be made on notice to the parties and to the commissioner, so neither side nor the commissioner is blindsided by a request going straight to the court without warning. The court can then direct the commissioner to move the reference along and finally produce the report the parties are waiting on.
Why this check exists
Because a reference removes fact-finding from the judge's direct, day-to-day oversight for a time, this provision gives the parties a way to pull the court back into the process specifically to address delay, rather than leaving them to wait indefinitely for the commissioner's report with no recourse. It also reinforces that a commissioner's diligence duty under Section 8 is enforceable, not merely aspirational, since either party can ask the court to convert that duty into an actual order compelling faster action. A party who suspects unreasonable delay should therefore consider this remedy before simply waiting further, since the Rule places the tool for addressing that delay squarely in the parties' own hands.