Harris v. Texas Department of Family & Protective Services

228 S.W.3d 819, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 4644, 2007 WL 1711758
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 15, 2007
Docket03-05-00244-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 228 S.W.3d 819 (Harris v. Texas Department of Family & Protective Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris v. Texas Department of Family & Protective Services, 228 S.W.3d 819, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 4644, 2007 WL 1711758 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

DAVID PURYEAR, Justice.

Appellant Ramona Harris gave birth to C.C.H. on February 3, 2001. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services first got involved with Harris in late 1999 and removed her three older children from her care in 2000. When C.C.H. was born, the Department immediately took custody of him and placed him in foster care with his older siblings.1 The cause was submitted to a jury in October 2004, and the jury returned a verdict finding that Harris’s parental rights to C.C.H. should not be terminated and that she should be named his managing conservator. The Department filed a motion for new trial, arguing that the jury’s finding on conservatorship was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence, manifestly unjust, and not in C.C.H.’s best interest. The child’s attorney ad litem filed a motion asking the court to designate the Department as C.C.H.’s managing conservator.

Seven months later, in early April 2005, the trial court signed an order in accordance with the jury’s finding that Harris’s parental rights should not be terminated. However, the court went on to state that the jury’s finding that Harris should be appointed managing conservator was “against the greater weight and degree of the credible evidence” and not in the child’s best interest. The court named the Department as C.C.H.’s sole managing conservator and Harris as possessory conservator, with “supervised visitation ... as has been in effect in the past.” It is from this order that Harris appeals. She argues that the trial court erred in disregarding the jury’s finding that she should be appointed C.C.H.’s managing conservator. She further argues that the trial court’s judgment (1) did not make the findings necessary to name the Department as C.C.H.’s managing conservator, (2) granted relief not requested by the Department, and (3) did not grant relief that was in the child’s best interest. We reverse the trial court’s order.

[821]*821Which statutes apply?

The cause before us involves the interaction of several sections of chapter 5 of the family code, including sections 105.002, 161.205, and 268.404. We must therefore determine how these statutes should be interpreted and applied and whether they can coexist or are in conflict. Harris argues that section 105.002 of the family code prohibited the trial court from disregarding the jury’s finding as to conserva-torship. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 105.002 (West Supp.2006). The Department, on the other hand, argues that the trial court did not err in entering its order, relying on section 161.205 of the family code, which it argues is a more specific statute that should control over section 105.002. See id. § 161.205 (West 2002).

Section 105.002 provides that in most suits affecting a parent-child relationship, (1) a party is entitled to a jury trial, and (2) the trial court may not contravene the jury’s verdict on the appointment of managing or possessory conservators. Id. § 105.002(a), (c). In determining issues of conservatorship and possession of a child, the child’s best interest must be the trial court’s primary consideration. See id. § 153.002 (West 2002). There is a strong presumption that a parent should be appointed managing conservator unless that appointment is not in the child’s best interest and would significantly impair the child’s physical health or emotional development. Id. § 158.131(a) (West 2002); Lewelling v. Lewelling, 796 S.W.2d 164, 166-67 (Tex.1990). Under chapter 161, which governs suits seeking to terminate a parent’s relationship with her child, see Tex. Fam.Code. Ann. §§ 161.001-.211 (West 2002 & Supp.2006), if a trial court does not terminate a parent’s rights, it shall either deny the petition or “render any order in the best interest of the child.” Id. § 161.205. The Department contends that section 161.205 authorized the trial court to disregard the jury’s findings as to con-servatorship and appoint the Department as managing conservator. We disagree.

When a child has been taken into the Department’s care, the trial court must conduct periodic hearings to review con-servatorship and a parent’s attempts to regain custody of her child. See id. §§ 263.001-.503 (West 2002 & Supp.2006). Under chapter 263, a trial court must render a final order within eighteen months of the Department’s appointment as temporary managing conservator.2 Id. § 263.401(a), (b) (West Supp.2006). A final order is one that orders the child returned to the parent, terminates the parent-child relationship, names a relative or other person as the child’s managing conservator, or appoints the Department managing conservator without terminating the parent’s rights. Id. § 263.401(d). Section 263.404 allows a trial court to render a final order that does not terminate a parent’s rights yet names the Department as managing conservator if the court finds (1) that the appointment of the parent as managing conservator would not be in the child’s best interest because it would significantly impair the child’s physical or emotional well-being and (2) that it is not in the child’s best interest to appoint a relative or another person as the child’s managing conservator. Id. § 263.404(a) (West 2002). In making that decision, the trial court should consider the child’s age, needs, and desires, whether a child twelve [822]*822or older has expressed strong feelings against termination or being adopted, and any special needs that would reduce the child’s chances of being adopted. Id. § 263.404(b).

In construing a statute, we look to the legislature’s intent, first examining the plain language used. Lenz v. Lenz, 79 S.W.3d 10, 19 (Tex.2002). The legislature enacted section 105.002 as part of subtitle A, “General Provisions,” which governs all suits affecting the parent-child relationship. Contrary to the Department’s contention, Texas courts have considered section 105.002 in several contexts, including termination, and have applied it in conjunction with statutes governing termination suits. See Taylor v. Texas Dep’t of Protective & Regulatory Servs., 160 S.W.3d 641, 653-54 (Tex.App.-Austin 2005, pet. denied) (section 105.002 applied in suit in which parents’ rights were terminated and grandmother sought conservatorship); Corrales v. Department of Family & Protective Servs., 155 S.W.3d 478, 488 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2004, no pet.) (section 161.207, which requires appointment of managing conservator after parental rights are terminated, “must be read in conjunction with Section 105.002,” and court “may not contravene a jury verdict concerning the appointment of a sole managing conservator”); In re Rodriguez, 940 S.W.2d 265, 271 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1997, writ denied) (applying section 105.002 in suit asking whether father or guardian should be appointed managing conservator); see also Lenz,

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Bluebook (online)
228 S.W.3d 819, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 4644, 2007 WL 1711758, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-texas-department-of-family-protective-services-texapp-2007.