Ayla Salkay v. City of Charlottesville Department of Social Services

• Court: Court of Appeals of Virginia
• Decided: October 1, 2024
• Docket: 0880232
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA

Present: Judges Athey, Callins and Frucci UNPUBLISHED

Argued by videoconference

AYLA SALKAY MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY v. Record No. 0880-23-2 JUDGE STEVEN C. FRUCCI OCTOBER 1, 2024 CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE Claude V. Worrell, II, Judge

Christopher C. Graham (Eustis & Graham, PC, on brief), for appellant.

Samantha Freed; Anthony D. Martin, Guardian ad litem for the minor child (Katrina E. Callsen; City of Charlottesville City Attorney’s Office; Lepold & Martin, PLLC, on brief), for appellee.

Ayla Salkay (“mother”) appeals the order of the Circuit Court for the City of Charlottesville

terminating her parental rights to her biological child, A.S, under Code § 16.1-283(C)(2) and

granting the petition of the City of Charlottesville Department of Social Services (“Department”).

The record lacks the notice of appeal from the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court

for the City of Charlottesville (“JDR court”) to the circuit court, which is necessary to determine

if our Court has jurisdiction. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal.

* This opinion is not designated for publication. See Code § 17.1-413(A). BACKGROUND

A.S. is the 3-year-and-10-month-old daughter of mother.1 A.S. was removed from the

custody of her parents and was administratively placed in foster care on August 4, 2021. On

June 29, 2022, the Department petitioned the JDR court to terminate the parental rights of

mother pursuant to Code §§ 16.1-282.1 and -283. The JDR court granted the petition and, on

October 3, 2022, entered an order terminating mother’s parental rights pursuant to Code

§ 16.1-283(C) and giving the Department the authority to place A.S. for adoption. Subsequently,

a de novo hearing was conducted in the circuit court on the Department’s petition. As a result,

the circuit court granted the petition and entered an order on May 1, 2023, that terminated

mother’s parental rights. Mother then appealed the matter to this Court. However, the record

presented to this Court did not include a notice of appeal from the JDR court to the circuit court.

ANALYSIS

“[A]n appellate court’s review of the case is limited to the record on appeal.” Wilkins v.

Commonwealth, 64 Va. App. 711, 717 (2015) (alteration in original) (quoting Turner v.

Commonwealth, 2 Va. App. 96, 99 (1986)). “[I]t is the responsibility of an appellant to provide

us with a record sufficient to allow us to reach his or her assignments of error.” Browning v.

Browning, 68 Va. App. 19, 31 (2017). “From any final order or judgment of the juvenile court

affecting the rights or interests of any person coming within its jurisdiction, an appeal may be

taken to the circuit court within 10 days from the entry of a final judgment . . . .” Code

§ 16.1-296(A). “Failure to comply with the rules governing appeals precludes the exercise of

jurisdiction by the circuit court . . . .” Blevins v. Prince William Cnty. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 61

Va. App. 94, 101 (2012). The timely filing of a notice of appeal is jurisdictional; without it, this

1 A.S.’s father’s parental rights were allegedly voluntarily terminated on April 27, 2023. His parental rights are not at issue on this appeal. -2- Court does not have active jurisdiction to address the issues on appeal. Greer v. Commonwealth,

67 Va. App. 324, 332 (2017).

Here, the notice of appeal from the JDR court to the circuit court is absent from the

record. Without the notice of appeal, we cannot confirm, and we do not assume, that the circuit

court had jurisdiction over the proceedings allegedly appealed from the juvenile court.2

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we dismiss mother’s appeal.

Dismissed.

2 At this time, neither party has requested a writ of certiorari and “nothing requires a court to do so sua sponte.” Eckard v. Commonwealth, ___ Va. ___, ___ (Aug. 1, 2024). -3-