A South Bend police officer is out of jail after being arrested on domestic violence charges.

Meredith Hanley allegedly attacked her husband, who is also a South Bend cop.

Despite a court appearance Tuesday, there are still no official charges against Hanley. The judge set a status hearing for January 12th.

The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's office is now asking for a special prosecutor from a neighboring county to handle this case from here on in.

The court appointed the LaPorte county Prosecutor to handle the case, and it will be assigned to Deputy Prosecutor Alan Sirnek.

Numerous officials say this was a natural step, because of Meredith and Scott Hanley’s relationships with local law enforcement.

As it turns out, Meredith Hanley actually worked for the county prosecutor's office in the past in their special victim's unit; where she worked with those with family violence issues.

Meredith was arrested early Saturday morning after allegedly attacking her husband Scott. At the time police described the charges as domestic violence/battery, a misdemeanor. However, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s office says the special prosecutor will now determine if, and what, charges will be filed in this case.

County police now say the couple had been drinking that night, and that around 1:30 in the morning, Meredith allegedly hit Scott in the head several times, and scratched his ear and neck.

Scott left their home and went to a neighbor's house to call police. The neighbor also happens to be a South Bend police officer.

After failing to answer the door, police entered her home through the garage door, and Meredith Hanley was arrested.

Neighbors say they were shocked to hear about the misdemeanor arrest, and that the couple's two young children were home at the time.

"It's unfortunate. I just feel bad for the children, we want them to have their parents home, and we've experienced no problems with (the Hanleys). I think it’s just been unfortunate," said Michele Kaczynski, a neighbor who says her kids play with the Hanley’s children, and are about the same age.

County officials told WNDU over the weekend, and into Monday morning, that Meredith was being held until a court appearance Monday afternoon without bond. A spokesperson from the prosecutor’s office explained Monday morning that this is regular practice in a domestic violence case.

But when WNDU tried to attend Hanley’s scheduled hearing Monday, we found out she had been released from jail over the weekend.

County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak then told WNDU that South Bend police called his office Saturday night to say Hanley had surgery scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Monday. Dvorak says he “took their word for it.”

Judge Scopelitis ordered her release, and she was out on Sunday.

Dvorak says Hanley is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. However, Dvorak says he’s not sure what type of surgery she had and if she will have recovered at that point, and may just be represented by an attorney.

South Bend Police say that Meredith Hanley is currently on paid administrative leave. That is the only punishment allowed by the police chief without the involvement of the board of public safety, and its next scheduled meeting is January 6th.

Chief Darryl Boykins has not recommended she be taken off paid leave as of yet, and a police spokesperson says they will likely wait to see how the situation plays out in court before making any decision.

A special meeting of the board is unlikely, as he also said it may be “procedurally impossible” to get the board together for a legal vote during the next couple of weeks due to the holidays.