Janet Jenkins is sworn in as a witness Friday at a family court hearing in Rutland, VT Rutland Herald photo by Vyto Starinskas

A family court judge in Rutland, Vermont declined on Friday to issue an arrest warrant for a mother who has refused to comply with his custody orders, but said he would consider harsher actions if Lisa Miller does not appear before him by Feb. 23, when another hearing is scheduled.

“At that point, I will consider all possible sanctions under the law,” said Judge William Cohen. “But first, I will give Ms. Miller an opportunity to comply.”

Cohen said giving Miller an opportunity to come forward would also give her an opportunity to confer with her lawyers, who claimed in court that they haven’t heard from their client in months, Rutland Herald reports.

Miller, who now lives in Virginia, has refused to abide by visitation orders issued by Cohen directing her to allow her former civil-union partner Janet Jenkins, to visit the couple’s daughter who was born while Jenkins and Miller were joined in a Vermont civil union. Courts in both Virginia and Vermont have upheld the visitation orders issued by Cohen, who oversaw the dissolution of the couple’s union.

Virginia mom given deadline to comply with child custody order [contd.]

In November, Cohen ordered Miller to transfer custody of the couple’s 7-year-old daughter to Jenkins on Jan. 1. Instead, Miller went into hiding with the girl, Isabella.

At Friday’s hearing, Cohen declined to declare that Miller is in contempt of court, but said, “I’ll also find that her actions were willful, intentional, and calculated.”

Jenkins had asked Cohen to issue a contempt decree and an arrest warrant, but Cohen said, “I don’t believe issuing an arrest warrant without giving Ms. Miller an opportunity to come to the court on her own would be in the child’s best interest.”

After the hearing, Jenkins’s attorney, Sarah Star, told reporters that the Cohen’s ruling allows police and prosecutors to bring charges of custodial interference against Miller. 

“With the judge’s findings I would be very surprised if the state’s attorney here in Rutland did not exercise his discretion to bring charges in this case,” Star said.

Custodial interference is a felony in Vermont that carries a potential five-year jail sentence, the Herald reports.

Standing next to Star outside the courthouse, Jenkins held up pictures of her blond-haired daughter and said she was only interested in finding Isabella.

“Every day I wonder where she is and if she’s OK,” Jenkins said. “I only want what’s best for my child.”

“My goal has never been to separate Isabella from her other mother, Lisa,” Jenkins said, according to Associated Press. “I just want what is best for our child, and that is to know both of her parents.” said Jenkins.

She encouraged anyone with knowledge of the girl’s whereabouts to contact local law enforcement or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“Please help me find my child,” she said.