Short answer. There is a hearing. Section 11 requires the report to be set for hearing after the ten-day objection period expires, after which the court must issue an order adopting, modifying, or rejecting the report in whole or in part, recommitting it with instructions, or requiring the parties to present further evidence before the commissioner or the court.
What the law says
Upon the expiration of the period of ten calendar days referred to in the preceding section, the report shall be set for hearing, after which the court shall issue an order adopting, modifying, or rejecting the report in whole or in part, or recommitting it with instructions, or requiring the parties to present further evidence before the commissioner or the court.
Rule 32, Section 11 — Hearing upon report. Read the full provision →
A hearing is mandatory, not automatic adoption
Once the ten-day period referenced in Section 10 runs out, the report doesn't simply become the court's ruling by default — it must be set for a hearing. This step exists precisely so the parties have a formal opportunity to be heard on the report's contents before the court takes any action on it, rather than having the commissioner's work quietly become binding through mere inaction.
The court's range of options
After the hearing, the court can adopt the report as-is, modify it, reject it in whole or in part, recommit it to the commissioner with instructions for further work, or require the parties to present additional evidence to either the commissioner or the court directly. This wide menu lets the court respond proportionately, whether the report needs only minor correction or a substantially fuller record.
Why the court retains this much control
The commissioner's findings are advisory input into the judicial process, not a final decision. The hearing and the court's broad menu of responses preserve the judge's ultimate authority to accept, adjust, or send back what the commissioner produced, ensuring that referring a matter to a commissioner never amounts to delegating the court's actual decision-making power over the case to someone the parties did not elect and who was not appointed as a judge.
How this connects to the earlier objection period
Section 11's hearing builds directly on the ten-day period under Section 10, during which the parties may file written objections to the commissioner's report. The hearing gives the court a chance to actually consider those objections, if any were filed, alongside the report itself, rather than acting on the report in a vacuum without ever hearing what either side found objectionable about it. None of the listed options require the court to choose only one; a judge dissatisfied with part of the report but satisfied with the rest can adopt some findings, modify others, and send a narrow remaining issue back to the commissioner for further work, all within the same order.
Related provisions
- Rule 32, Section 11 — Hearing upon report
- Rule 32, Section 10 — Notice to parties of the filing of report