In re A.N.

54 S.W.3d 487, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 5529
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 16, 2001·No. No. 2-00-397-CV·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

OPINION

DAUPHINOT, Justice.

Appellant A.N. appeals from the juvenile court’s order of commitment, committing her to the care, custody, and control of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) for an indeterminate period of time. In a single issue on appeal, Appellant contends that the juvenile court abused its discretion in committing her to TYC. We reverse and remand.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On July 5, 2000, the juvenile court found that Appellant had engaged in delinquent conduct by committing the misdemeanor offense of assault causing bodily injury and placed her on probation for one year.1 On September 29, 2000, the State filed a motion to modify disposition alleging Appellant violated the conditions of her probation by removing an electronic monitor from her person without the juvenile court’s permission. A hearing was held on the motion to modify on October 6, 2000, at which time Appellant agreed and stipulated to the State’s evidence. The juvenile court found that Appellant had violated the terms and conditions of her probation as alleged by the State and signed an order committing Appellant to TYC. In its order, the court found that Appellant had previously been adjudicated delinquent on August 6, 1999, for the misdemeanor offense of evading arrest.2

[489] In her sole issue on appeal, Appellant contends that the juvenile court abused its discretion in committing her to TYC. Appellant does not challenge the trial court’s finding that she violated a reasonable and lawful order of the court.3 Rather, Appellant argues that the juvenile court was without statutory authority to commit her to the custody of TYC. Specifically, Appellant insists that the court misinterpreted the pertinent provisions of section 54.05 of the Texas Family Code.

DISCUSSION

Section 54.05,4 which governs hearings to modify dispositions, provides in relevant part:

(f) A disposition based on a finding that the child engaged in delinquent conduct that violates a penal law of this state or the United States of the grade of felony or, if the requirements of Subsection (j) are met, of the grade of misdemeanor, may be modified so as to commit the child to the Texas Youth Commission if the court after a hearing to modify disposition finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the child violated a reasonable and lawful order of the court....
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(j) The court may modify a disposition under Subsection (f) that is based on a finding that the child engaged in delinquent conduct that violates a penal law of the grade of misdemeanor if:
(1) the child has been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony or misdemeanor on at least two previous occasions; and
(2) of the previous adjudications, the conduct that was the basis for the adjudications occurred after the date of another previous adjudication.5

Under Appellant’s interpretation, section 54.05(j) prohibits the juvenile court from committing a child to TYC following a misdemeanor probation violation unless the child has been adjudicated delinquent for a felony or misdemeanor on two separate occasions prior to the most recent misdemeanor for which the child is on probation. Thus, according to Appellant, because she had only one adjudication on her record prior to the misdemeanor offense that was the subject of the modification hearing, the juvenile court abused its discretion in committing her to TYC. The State disagrees with Appellant’s construction of section 54.05(j), arguing that the statute’s plain language requiring two “previous” adjudications “permits the trial court to count the adjudication for which the child was originally placed on probation as one of the two previous misdemean- or adjudications.”

As we understand the parties’ respective positions, Appellant contends that section 54.05(j) requires that the child have been adjudicated delinquent on at least three separate occasions, two of these occasions being before the adjudication for which disposition is being modified. The State, on the other hand, insists that section 54.05(j) requires only two adjudications in total, including the adjudication that is the [490] subject of the hearing to modify disposition. Accordingly, the question before us is whether the adjudication for which the child was placed on probation and which is the subject of the modification of disposition is a “previous” adjudication under section 54.05(j). After a careful study of the statutory language, we conclude that it is not.

Texas Supreme Court jurisprudence mandates that we enforce the plain meaning of an unambiguous statute.6 If a statute is clear and unambiguous, we need not resort to rules of construction or other extrinsic aids to construe it.7 Whether a statute is ambiguous is a question of law.8 Ambiguity exists if reasonable persons can find different meanings in the statute.9

If a statute is determined to be ambiguous, this court’s primary objective in construing that statute is to ascertain the legislature’s intent and to give effect to that intent.10 We must construe a statute as written and, if possible, ascertain legislative intent from the statute’s language.11 Moreover, even when a statute is not ambiguous on its face, we can consider other factors to determine the Legislature’s intent, including the object sought to be obtained, the circumstances of the statute’s enactment, the legislative history, the common law or former statutory provisions, including laws on the same or similar subjects, the consequences of a particular construction, and administrative construction of the statute.12

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In re A.N., 54 S.W.3d 487, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 5529 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

54 S.W.3d 487 (In re A.N.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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