In Interest of LMC

430 N.W.2d 352, 146 Wis. 2d 377
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJuly 12, 1988
Docket88-0521, 88-0522, 88-0523
StatusPublished

This text of 430 N.W.2d 352 (In Interest of LMC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Interest of LMC, 430 N.W.2d 352, 146 Wis. 2d 377 (Wis. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

146 Wis.2d 377 (1988)
430 N.W.2d 352

IN the INTEREST OF L.M.C., a Person Under the Age of 18: Carolyn P. SCHOENWALD, as Guardian ad Litem for L.M.C., Appellant,
v.
M.C., and L.C., Respondents.[†]
IN the INTEREST OF H.L.C., a Person Under the Age of 18: Carolyn P. SCHOENWALD, as Guardian ad Litem for H.L.C., Appellant,
v.
M.C., and L.C., Respondents.[†]
IN the INTEREST OF E.S.C., a Person Under the Age of 18: Carolyn P. SCHOENWALD, as Guardian ad Litem for E.S.C., Appellant,
v.
M.C., and L.C., Respondents.[†]

Nos. 88-0521, 88-0522, 88-0523.

Court of Appeals of Wisconsin.

Submitted on briefs July 12, 1988.
Decided July 12, 1988.

*379 For the appellants the cause was submitted on the briefs of Carolyn P. Schoenwald, of Madison.

For the respondent, M.C., the cause was submitted on the brief of Richard J. Auerbach and Auerbach & Porter, of Madison.

For the respondent, L.C., the cause was submitted on the brief of Charles Bennett Vetzner, assistant state public defender.

Before Gartzke, P.J., Dykman and Eich, JJ.

GARTZKE, P.J.

The guardian ad litem for each of three children has appealed from an order dismissing petitions to extend the dispositional order as to each child entered in Child in Need of Protection or Services proceedings (CHIPS). The issues are (1) whether previous extensions of dispositional orders are invalid because the dispositional orders had expired *380 before the extensions were granted and (2) whether the trial court nevertheless is competent to grant the petitions to extend because the court's competency was not challenged in previous proceedings. We conclude that one extension is invalid, but because the competency of the court to enter that extension was not timely raised in previous proceedings, the parents are precluded from challenging the court's competency in this proceeding.

We summarize our construction of the pertinent statutes and case law as follows:

(1) An order extending a dispositional order under secs. 48.355 and 48.365, Stats., is effective if orally rendered before termination of the dispositional order even if not reduced to writing until after termination of the order;
(2) While an extension order is effective when rendered before termination of the dispositional order, it extends the order for one year from the termination date of the dispositional order or from the termination date of an extension for thirty days or less under sec. 48.365(6), Stats., not from the date the extension order is rendered;
(3) A trial court cannot temporarily extend a dispositional order beyond thirty days past its termination date to hold a hearing on an extension petition by consent or by continuing the extension hearing under sec. 48.315(1)(b), Stats;
(4) Objections to the trial court's failure to abide by the time limits for extending dispositional orders under secs. 48.355 and 48.365, Stats., must be raised in the trial court at the time the extension is under consideration or by timely appeal from the order granting the extension. Failure to do so precludes a party from asserting such objections in subsequent litigation.

*381 We begin with the statutory and case law background. The juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction over a child alleged to be in need of protection or services. Sec. 48.13, Stats. The custody of a child adjudged to be in such need may be transferred to an agency. Sec. 48.345. Transfer is effected by a dispositional order entered pursuant to sec. 48.355.

A dispositional order entered under sec. 48.355, Stats., before the child reaches the age of majority terminates at the end of one year from entry of the order unless the judge specifies a shorter time, and extensions also terminate at the end of one year unless a shorter time is ordered. Sec. 48.355(4). A dispositional order may be extended only as provided in sec. 48.365, Sec. 48.365(1). Extension orders cannot exceed one year. Sec. 48.365(5). "If a request to extend a dispositional order is made prior to the termination of the order, but the court is unable to conduct a hearing on the request prior to the termination date, the court may extend the order for a period of not more than 30 days." Sec. 48.365(6).

The provisions of sec. 48.365, Stats., governing extension of dispositional orders apply to juveniles adjudicated delinquent and to children adjudicated in need of protection or services. We therefore may look to the case law in both types of proceedings for guidance.

[1, 2]

In Interest of S.D.R., 109 Wis. 2d 567, 326 N.W.2d 762 (1982), involved the extension of a dispositional order in a juvenile delinquency proceeding. The S.D.R. court noted that dispositional orders "terminate at the end of one year unless the order is extended by the court for up to 30 days pending a plenary hearing, or for up to a year following such a hearing." Id. at *382 575-76, 326 N.W.2d at 766 (emphasis in original). A temporary extension under sec. 48.365(6), Stats., "can only be granted when a request for such extension is filed before the expiration of the dispositional order. ... Further, the extension granted under this provision can not be for more than 30 days and the full hearing must be held within that period." Id. at 575, 326 N.W.2d at 766 (emphasis in original). "[U]nder no circumstances may the dispositional order be temporarily extended for more than 30 days. The court must hear and decide the extension request within 30 days of the termination of the order." Id. at 577, 326 N.W.2d at 767.

The factual history of this case is undisputed. L.C. and M.C. are the parents of L.M.C., H.L.C. and E.S.C. In December 1983 the oldest child told school officials that his father had hit him. The parents admitted to the police that the oldest child had been beaten about every other day. CHIPS petitions were filed for each child in December 1983, and the children were removed from the home and placed in foster care. Amended petitions were filed in late December 1983, providing additional information regarding alleged physical and sexual abuse. The petitions were amended further to allege that the children were victims of physical abuse only. The court accepted the parents' pleas of no contest to the amended CHIPS petitions and found the children in need of protection or services.

The court signed a single dispositional order on April 12, 1984 placing the children under the protective supervision of the Dane County Department of Social Services for one year. "An order is entered when it is filed in the office of the clerk of court." Sec. 807.11(2), Stats. The order bears the clerk of court's *383 date stamp of April 27, 1984. The order was entered on April 27, 1984. The order is effective for one year from the date of entry. Sec. 48.355(4), Stats.

On March 5, 1985, the court signed an order reciting that it had been advised that the department would be petitioning for an extension which would be contested. The court extended the dispositional orders for thirty days from April 12, 1985.[1] Extension petitions were filed on April 11, 1985, and heard on April 25, 1985, when the parents pled no contest to the allegations.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Shopper Advertiser, Inc. v. Wisconsin Department of Revenue
344 N.W.2d 115 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1984)
De Bruin v. State
412 N.W.2d 130 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1987)
Eberhardy v. Circuit Court for Wood County
307 N.W.2d 881 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1981)
In RE MARRIAGE OF HENGEL v. Hengel
355 N.W.2d 846 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1984)
In Interest of SDR
326 N.W.2d 762 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1982)
State v. Amato
375 N.W.2d 75 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1985)
Brookhouse v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance
387 N.W.2d 82 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1986)
Mueller v. Brunn
313 N.W.2d 790 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1982)
Hartford Insurance v. Wales
406 N.W.2d 426 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1987)
State v. Rosen
240 N.W.2d 168 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1976)
Schoenwald ex rel. L.M.C. v. M.C.
430 N.W.2d 352 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
430 N.W.2d 352, 146 Wis. 2d 377, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-interest-of-lmc-wisctapp-1988.